
Quoting
Taxing Matters
You won’t get the conviction overturned for this. You either plead guilty to the DUI in a deal with the DA or you were convicted by jury at trial (very, very few criminal defendants that go to trial have the case decided by a judge, it is very unusual for both defendant and prosecutor to go for that). Either way, the judge did not decide your guilt. You can ask your lawyer if her comments might enable you to challenge her sentencing decision and in particular the decision not to terminate probation early, but I think that’s a long shot. Understand that many judges, though they will not say so explicitly, do consider the public impact of their sentencing decisions along with many other factors. There is nothing inherently wrong with that; the community has an interest in ensuring that cases are decided properly and that sentences are fair. Focusing on just one segment of the community (MADD in this case) — and explicitly saying that in the hearing — is unusual and raises more of a concern but still may not be enough for an appeals court to say the judge abused her discretion in denying early release from probation. Your lawyer will be able to review the entire transcript of the hearing and advise you of that might be done.