New Hanover County courts tackles the backlog on DWI trials
NEW HANOVER COUNTY, NC (WWAY) — The court system is working its way through a backlog of cases caused by the pandemic.
There were two types of cases significantly impacted during the pandemic, resulting in delayed trials in district court and superior court. Those impacted were homicide and Driving While Impaired (DWI) cases.
Friday was a busy day in New Hanover County court, as dozens of DWI cases went before a judge, all in an effort to make a dent in the pile of cases that have accumulated in the past two years.
A specialized court has been set up specifically to address the backlog of DWI trials, with 16 court sessions scheduled between now and September.
“We sent this word out to law enforcement today district-wide. We have also started to let people in the defense bar know, by calendaring some of these cases, –and we’re moving forward, and so there are going to be people watching right now who might have one of those cases pending, that are going to hear that after 2 years, we’re finally going to be able to give many of these cases the time necessary in court to try them,” said Ben David, New Hanover County District Attorney.
New Hanover County District Attorney Ben David says it’s important that his office prioritize these cases.
“When you talk about public safety, and particularly making sure that we have people with a public threat of maybe multiple DWI’s that haven’t been heard in this last couple of years, we want to get those cases into a courtroom,” said David.
David says getting that conviction and sentence are necessary for public safety.
“They’re going to have to have whatever in place after a conviction that might protect the community, particularly technology that might require you to blow into the machine before you can start your car, to prove that you’re not impaired, or to have and ankle monitor for that same purpose,” said David.
The next court session scheduled for DWI trials is May 18, with 28 cases set to be heard that day.
The District Attorney’s Office is also working to address the backlog of 61 pending murder cases in New Hanover and Pender counties.
