The DUI defense attorney for one of eight drunken
driving offenders who were taken off house arrest and sent back to prison to
serve a mandatory minimum two-year term asked the Nevada Supreme Court on
Thursday to compel the director of prisons to release his 21-year-old
client and put her back on the house
arrest program.
Scott
Freeman, the lawyer for Jessica Winkle who was convicted for a DUI offense
which caused the death of a young motorcyclist in 2008, told the court that
Nevada Attorney General Catherine Cortez Masto was wrong when she issued an
opinion early this year saying people convicted of killing or injuring another
while driving drunk must spend at least two years behind bars, which in effect
resulted in a return to prison order for his client and seven others similarly
situated. Said he, “We’re trying to make
the law consistent and we believe what occurred with Jessica Winkle was an
injustice. She was allowed to prove herself on house arrest, she complied, and
then was put back in prison.”
Masto said
Friday that she stands by her position that the present law requires people who
drive drunk and kill or injure someone to spend a minimum of two years behind
bars, not on house arrest. She said she has also filed a bill request for the
state lawmakers to review that law and clarify whether the director of the
Nevada Department of Corrections should have the discretion to release some DUI
offenders on a special program that would allow them to serve their prison
sentence at home.
The DUI
attorney in his court request noted that Masto’s action was politically
motivated since it is an election year for which she is running for
re-election. The Attorney General denied the allegation.