15 Finds Out: What happens after .08?

FORT WAYNE, Ind. (WANE)--Lights flash, siren sounds, you pull over.  About the first thing the officer checks is if you’ve been drinking.  Police agencies across Indiana crack down on drivers who are operating while intoxicated.  Indiana law states, a driver's blood-alcohol content cannot go over .08.  But how each case gets treated from there is different depending on where the arrest happens.

Click here to see OWI convictions and prosecutor requirements for counties across northeast Indiana.

“As a society, we have pounded away with drunk driving messages over the years.  We're hopeful as these things go through, we finally get across to people,” said Michael McAlexander, chief deputy prosecutor of Allen County.  “It's one crime that really does affect all segments of society.”

“Second Chances”

In Allen County, Indiana State Police, Fort Wayne Police, and New Haven Police report a total of 1,968 people were arrested and received an OWI charge in 2011.  Not all arrested were convicted.

McAlexander said Allen County aims to hand out second chances for certain violators.  That can mean bumping charges down to reckless driving for some first time offenders.

“There is a sense of trying to give people a second chance,” McAlexander said.  “If they have a clean record, if there's no accident, and no one's been harmed, our hope is that the one night they spend in jail and hopefully a little bit of the shame and humiliation they feel…that's good and we don't want them back.”

Higher Consequences

But head south to Wells County and it's a different story.  Mike Lautzenheiser has been the Wells County prosecutor for 32 years.  He said it's extremely rare to see an OWI arrest without a matching conviction .

“We will have probably 50 to 75 drunk drivers a year I would guess looking back over the last few years and…if we would lose two of them in a year, that would be a very bad year for us.  One would be an average year or zero would be an average year,” Lautzenheiser said.  “If you're intoxicated and you're driving on the highway, it's almost like someone pointing a gun and firing it and hoping it doesn't hit somebody.”

In 2011, the BMV reports 53 OWI convictions in Wells County.  Lautzenheiser said that same year, he didn't lose a single OWI case.  That would make a 100 percent OWI conviction rate in Wells County.

Lautzenheiser said the reason lies in what happens after the suspect gets pulled over.  Wells County requires two breath tests and a blood test for every single OWI arrest.  If convicted, every OWI suspect will get jail-time or home detention.

“If you're stopped for speeding or a traffic infraction that shows you might be impaired, you fail three or four of the field sobriety tests, you fail both breath tests, and then you fail the blood test ...that's a pretty high mountain to climb to get out of all that,” Lautzenheiser said.

Whitley County

It's a similar story in Whitley County.  Prosecutor Matt Rentschler requires a breath and blood test for every OWI suspect.  More than a decade ago, Whitley County was one of the first to implement a search warrant for the suspect's blood if they refuse the certified tests.

“For whatever reason [if the suspect] determined they were not going to be cooperative when they were pulled over by a police officer and had been drinking alcohol, those cases were much more difficult to prosecute than the persons who were cooperative,” Rentschler said.  “I didn't think that was right that a person should benefit for being uncooperative.”     

Too aggressive?

Roy Duff owns Duffy’s Bar and Grill in Ossian.  His bar is one of only a handful in Wells County.  He said officers wait outside his business and pick off bar patrons.  The result?

“I see a lot more people [drinking] at home now, having parties at home in this community here.  We see a lot of it…because they’re afraid to drive,” Duff said.  “Are they a little too aggressively doing that?  In my opinion probably so.”

Duff agrees it's better to keep drunk drivers off the road, but increased enforcement has definitely put a strain on his business.

“It's kind of a catch 22 I guess,” Duff said.

Allen County's convictions

Wells County's "no second chances" sound very different from Allen County.  But 15 Finds Out ran those numbers.

In 2011, Allen County had a 90 percent conviction rate.  In 2010, it was an 80 percent conviction rate.  Some people can be arrested one year and convicted the next.

Although Allen County only requires one certified breath test for OWI suspects, it turns out second chances exist for only a select few, and population may have something to do with it.

Smaller counties can be more strict toward OWI's because they have fewer people on the roads and fewer officers.  That’s why what happens after .08 in Wells County, is much different than Allen County.

“I think the consequences of you getting caught and pulled over are greater and then, like I