Jan 15, 2004

Pioneer High School hosts DUI trial
Court in Schools program teaches both civic and social lessons

By Candy Richter

With the incidents of teenage Driving Under the Influence (DUI) auto collisions on the rise in Santa Clara County, programs like the County-sponsored DUI Court in the Schools offer students an eyewitness look at the legal repercussions of choosing to operate a motor vehicle after consuming alcohol.

The Pioneer High School trial, held on Jan. 14 in the campus gymnasium involved a 24-year old San Francisco man accused of two misdemeanor counts: driving under the influence of alcohol and having a blood level alcohol of 0.21 percent—more than twice the legal limit of .08 percent.

Hearing the arguments was Superior Court Judge Carrie Zepeda and a panel of 12 “jurists” made up of Pioneer High School students participating in a campus-based jury trial course.

By giving teens a glimpse into the judicial ramifications of a DUI arrest, it is the County’s hope that young people will reconsider before drinking and driving.

“I hope that through observing a live DUI trial, students will think twice before drinking and driving,” said Santa Clara County Supervisor and Traffic Safe Communities Network co-chair James Beall, Jr. “Too many lives have been lost in crashes that could have been prevented.”

Since the program’s inception in 2001, more than 15 local high schools have hosted DUI trials. The Courts in the Schools conduct approximately 10 trials per year throughout Santa Clara County.

Although it is the presiding justice who makes the final sentencing in these DUI trials, the Pioneer jury panel was asked to go through the same deliberations that an official courtroom jury would experience.

In the case of the Pioneer High School trial, there was a discrepancy between justice Zepeda’s findings and the findings of the student jury panel. While Zepeda found the defendant guilty on both counts, the student jury found the defendant guilty in the first count of driving while under the influence, but not guilty in the second count of possessing a blood alcohol level of .21.

When asked how they came to their conclusion, jury spokespersons indicated that they did not feel that the prosecution adequately addressed the process of alcohol absorption in the body, to the point that the jury felt confident passing a guilty verdict for the second count.

Following the trial, officer Les Bishop gave a short rundown of the consequences of being underage, under the influence and behind the wheel, advising the students, “don’t take chances. Don’t jeopardize your life or your lifestyle by making poor choices concerning alcohol and drugs.”

During the panel discussion, Zepeda, the attorneys, Turner and the defendant took questions from the audience. Queries ranged from how does the judicial system treat other types of drug possession, to rumors about the effect of alcohol-based mouthwashes on Breathalyzer tests.

Though the assembled panel represented years of judicial and law enforcement experience, it was the comments made by the defendant that made the greatest impact on the senior class government students gathered for the trial.

Describing the events leading up to his decision to get behind the wheel of his truck after drinking, he emphasized that although it was not his intent to drive, but rather to leave his truck and get a ride home from friends, once he realized that he had parked illegally, he decided to move his truck and that was when he was stopped by the police for erratic driving. “Do not even put yourself in that position,” he cautioned. “It just isn’t worth the risk.” And to that, the group gave a resounding round of applause.