Houston DWI Pretrial Diversion Changes A Judge's Role
Now that the Harris County District Attorney's Office is going forward with the pretrial diversion program for DWI cases should judges inquire if each defendant that is entering a plea of guilty before them has been made aware of this opportunity? A judge's role is to protect everyone's rights. Therefore, if the judge has an inkling that the person before them may qualify for a pretrial diversion for their DWI case and has not been informed of this possibility by their attorney for whatever reason the judge should caution the person about the consequences.
I realize that there a lot of variables in each case, and the plea admonishments discuss essential rights, but this new program changes the playing field for all DWI attorneys in Houston.