If you have issues viewing or accessing this file contact us at NCJRS.gov. P~ 28~ DOT HS-803-469 EVALUATIONAND SYSTEM DESCRIPTIONOF ASAP JUDICIALSYSTEMS Volume I1: Puerto Rico Case Study James A. Palmer Raymond J. Ripberger David T. Skelton Gary J. Scrimgeour Insttute for Research in Public Safety Indiana University 400 E. Seventh Slreet Bloomington, Indiana 47401 Contract No. DOT HS-4-00958 Contract Amt. $104,000 JULY 1978 FINAL REPORT . t Document is available to the U.S. public through the National Technical Information Service Springfield, Virginia 22161 Prepared For U.S. DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION National Highway Traffic Safety Administration Washington, D.C. 20590 . r i • r This document is disseminated under thesponsorship of the Dopartnusnt of Transportation in the interest of infornmtion exchange. TheUnited States Govern- montassumos no liability for its contents or use thereof. • .'1 .L. •' .• • . .. • -.. .- xr Technical keport Documentation Page !. Report No. 2. Gover6ment Accession No. 3. Reciplent'S Catalog No. DOT HS 803 469 4. Title and S&btitle 5. Report Date Evaluation and System Description of ASAP November 1976 Judicial Systems 6. Per!arming Organization Code Volume II : Puerto Rico Case Study 8..Performing Organization Report No. 7. Author / s) . David T. Skelton r 9. Performing Organization Name and Address 10." Wo,k Unit No. (TRAIS) i Institute for Research in Public Safety .. Indiana University | 1. Contract or Gr.ar~t No. • " 400 E. Seventh •Street DOT-HS-4-00958 Bloomington, Indiana • 47401 . 13. Type of Re~)ort and Period Covered | 2. Sponsoring Agency Name and Address Final Report U.S. Department of Transportaltion National Highway Traffic Safety ~ Cj ~ 6174-7177 Administration ]4. Sponsoring Agency Code Washington, D.C. 20590 1.5. Supplementary Notes U~.2 [1%2 .~ I~J~.2 A¢©US;T;Oh!8 1.6. Abstract This study is a description and evaluation of the adjudicative-disposi- tion systems in operation in five states and communities with Federally funded drinking-driver control programs called Alcohol Safety Action Projects (ASAP). The five sites selec£ed had undergone significant change in the legal or judicial system or had developed innovative approaches for handling drinking-driving cases. Case studies were conducted for Puerto Rico; Phoenix, Arizona; Los Angeles, California; Hennepin County, Minnesota; and Idaho. A final technical report con- sists of a summary and analysis of the case-study findings with final conclusions and policy recommendations. The primary objective of the Puerto Rico ASAP study was to assess the impact of (i) the statutory adoption of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's operational definition of a problem drinker as the legal definition for court disposition purposes and (2) a m~dated presentence investigation and drinker-type classification of al con- •victed drinking-driving offenders. The study found that the •Puerto Rico ASAP successfully created, implemented, and tested a viable system # of drinking-driver control through legislative enactment in 1973, where no such •system had previously existed. However, additional legislation in 1975, although theoretically desirable, will probably prove to be counter productive. Wards 18. Distribution Statement Alcohol Safety Action Project Document is available to the Courts public through the National • Legal Factors Technical Information Service, Drinking drivers Springfield, Virginia 22151 19. Secu¢,ty Clossif. (of this ropo,t) ~. 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I m ~ cub.: meters 1,3 CUBIC ylo'd I vd,~ , .oal ~l~l IcilS • 3.11 h|~f~ I -- ~_~_ (Tub,: feet O.03 I;llhlC I~l!ll*f S m} Vd I cub,c yards 0.76 Cubic ~.~ll~ a - fl1:1 TEMPERATURE (KSIKt} TEMPERATURE (eucl! *F Celsius 0/5 (¢he~. FiIvenheit t Impel atuou add 32| tlluqpmrgReeD "F Flhro~,shoil §/9 (altm - C~Is!us ,. • "C lenl~ature sublrll¢l m 0 lla~l~)~f All if e - ~ .~ .. elf • 321 oF $2 :" " 90-6 • BZ =,o o joo .0 L ,,o ,,o • | • • , , * i • -O0:';'"" -20 0' '" 20 ' J'40 ' do ' o'o ' ,~ i . • C .. 31' o¢ J Puerto Rico PUERTO RICO ASAP JUDICIAL SYSTEM EXECUTIVE•SUMMARY* The Puerto Ricostudy Was conducted to determine the effect of significant changes that were made in the island's DWI and BAC laws in 1973 at the urging of the Puerto Rico Alcohol Safety Action Project (ASAP). The methods of research included interviews with key persons in the PuertoRican criminal justice system, observations in courts and elsewhere, and analysis of ASAP status reports prepared for the National Highway Traffic Safety AdministratiOn (NHTSA). Prior to 1973 Puerto Rico's DWI law was a criminal law, with harsh penalties for offenders. First offenders were supposed to lose their driver's licenses for 1 to 2 years; second offenders were supposed to be given manda- tory jail sentences and see their driver's licenses permanently revoked. Because of the harshness of the penalties, combined with widespread tolerance for drinking, there were few DWI prosecutions. Those who were prosecuted, moreover, usually found it easy to avoid conviction by taking advantage of loopholes in the BAC law. Although an implied consent law existed, defendants were often able to convince judges that their refusal to take a BAC test was justified. Furthermore, defendants were permitted to decide whether they would take a blood, a breath,•or a urine test. In addition, certain procedural rules--for example, the require- ment for a probable-cause hearing for defendants "without unnecessary delay" --helped defendants evade conviction. Evaluation and Systems Description of ASAP Judicial Systems, Volume II - Puerto Rico, Contract No. DOT-HS-4-00958, Institute for Research in Public Safety, Indiana University, July, 1977. iii Puerto Rico The new DWI law,. unlike the old,:combined punishment with rehabilitation. It called for Presentence investigations to determine whether offenders were problem or social drinkers/and allowed judges to issue restricted licenses • .' . .. Until offenders participated in rehabilitation programs (for problem drinkers) or education programs (for social drinkers). The BAC law's loopholes Were CloSed at the same'time'. Breath testing was established as the preferred testing method, and the right to choose the BAC testing method was shifted from the defendant to the arresting officer. = The new law did not, however, lower the presumptive level of intoxication from 0.15 percent BAC to 0.i0 percent, as requested by the ASAP. The new DWI law, combined with stronger law enforcement efforts spon- sored by the ASAP, resulted in significant increases in the number of presentence investigations and in the identification of problem and social drinkers. Where 221 problem drinkers had been identified in 1973, for example, that number increased to 1,146 in 19741 As another effect of the new law, judges gradually came to rely on presentencing investigators and probation officers for advice on how Dwi cases should be treated. Unfortunately, the new BAC and DWI laws did not deal with certain problems that had existed in the criminal justice system prior to 1973, and they added a few new ones. The new DWI law, for example, required a pre- sentencing investigation that wasan investigacion minuciosa, words that were taken to mean an excessively thorough investigation of the entire life of defendants. The new BAC law, in giving the breath test preferred status, resulte d indismissals of cases when experts were unavailable to testify on the accuracy of breath testing equipment. Furthermore, judgescontinued to be lenient with defendants who refused to take a BACtest. iv Puerto Rico In 1975 the island's legislature again revised the BAC and Dwi laws. The presumptive level of intoxication was set at 0.i0 percent BAC, and DWI cases were assigned to District Courts, thus relieving thecongestion that such cases had caused in the Superior Courts. At thesame time, however, the new legislation returned to defendants the right to choose a BAC testing % method and required completion of theDriver Improvement School course by offenders within 30 days, thus creating severe administrative problems.