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Proposition 36 & DUI Cases: Casting Too Narrow a Net

By Neil Shous, Esq.

California Proposition 36 allows nonviolent drug offenders to participate in treatment programs rather than go to jail. Eligible defendants plead guilty to the underlying drug charge, and are then placed on probation and ordered to complete an outpatient program. If they do so and comply with the terms of probation, the drug case is ultimately dismissed. But eligibility for Proposition 36 is laced with restrictions, one of which pertains to DUI charges. A person charged in the same complaint with both a nonviolent drug offense and a DUI does not qualify. The restriction stems from language in Proposition 36 excluding "any defendant convicted, in the same case, of any misdemeanor not related to drugs or any other felony that is not a nonviolent drug possession offense...continue to full post

Full post as published by California Criminal Defense Blog on September 18, 2009 (boomark / email).