DWI Driver Prosecuted and Sentenced
Written by Post Public Information Representative, Sep 28, 2016, Comments Off
Courtesy Yanira Deleon,
(Laredo, Texas)-The Office of the District Attorney reports a guilty verdict for Mario Alberto Rodriguez Jr. for driving while intoxicated.
On April 5, 2014, a Laredo Police Department Officer was working a D.W.I. detail when she noticed a black in color Dodge Ram pickup disregard a red light on the intersection of Sanchez and Santa Ursula. After activating her emergency lights and sirens to conduct a traffic stop, the vehicle slowed down and stopped at the red light on the 1900 block of San Dario. As the officer approached the vehicle, the driver began moving forward to get close to the curb. The driver was identified as Mario Alberto Rodriguez Jr. and was advised that he had disregarded the red light. The officer observed a strong odor of alcohol emitting from his breath, as well as slurred speech and glossy, bloodshot eyes. The officer conducted one Standard Field Sobriety Test which Rodriguez failed. Rodriguez refused the other tests, and he was placed under arrest and charged with driving while intoxicated, a class B misdemeanor. The District Attorney’s Office charged him with an enhancement of a prior driving while intoxicated conviction, a class A misdemeanor.
The trial which took place before the County Court at Law I Judge Hugo D. Martinez was heard by a jury who after one hour of deliberation rendered their guilty verdict. The defendant elected to have the judge assess punishment. Judge Martinez assessed punishment which included one year to serve probated over eighteen months, take part in the sobriety treatment program, and three days to serve as a condition of probation.
Assistant District Attorneys Rene Benavides and Alvaro Aguirre and Allan McGraw prosecuted the case for the State.
