Ex-lawyer, convicted in 2008 DWI death, appeals latest conviction
Carlos Fierro, the former Santa Fe attorney who spent more than three years in prison after killing a pedestrian while driving drunk in 2008, is appealing his conviction last month on a subsequent DWI charge.
Fierro in January pleaded guilty in a Memorial Day weekend incident in which a state police officer reported he had tossed a cigarette out of his car window and made an irregular lane change while driving in Española.
The arrest report said Fierro had asked the officer to give him a “break” during the traffic stop.
His lawyer argued in pretrial motions that the traffic stop wasn’t justified, that the arresting officer wasn’t trained to administer field sobriety tests and that the officer had targeted Fierro because of his history. But after those motions seeking to dismiss or suppress evidence were denied in Magistrate Court, Fierro on Jan. 13 entered a conditional guilty plea to the drunken-driving charge, preserving his right to appeal.
A judge sentenced Fierro to 90 days in jail and then suspended all but four days — time he had already served. Less than a week later, on Jan. 19, Fierro filed a notice of appeal in District Court.
Read more: http://www.santafenewmexican.com/news/local_news/ex-lawyer-convicted-in-dwi-death-appeals-latest-conviction/article_77bcbbdc-7481-5ad8-ade2-57a2ef359acf.html
[font color=330099]How many breaks should be given to someone who has killed someone while driving drunk? The sentence given by the judge is so lax that it does not serve as a proper deterrent.[/font]