Last week we discussed a judge's unusual policy of suspending the driver's licenses of DUI defendants who were awaiting their day in court and had not been convicted. One woman whose license was suspended got another surprise when she went to trial this week.

The woman was arrested last July after police found a car double-parked with its hazard lights on. She was suspected of driving drunk and submitted to a breath test, which registered a blood alcohol level of .18 percent, more than twice the legal driving limit.

But she and the people she was with stated then and in later testimony that she wasn't the driver of the car. She exited the car through the driver's-side door, but only because she'd moved from the back seat to the front to check on her boyfriend in the front seat and grab some bags of food to take into the house of the designated driver, who had already left the car when police came along.

After several delays of her trial, a judge suggested numerous times that she enter a program for DUI offenders and forgo the trial, but the woman insisted she was innocent and wanted her day in court. The judge finally relented, but suspended her driver's license in the meantime.

After an hour and 15 minutes of deliberations on Tuesday, a jury found the woman not guilty of second-offense drunken driving. But minutes later, the trial judge convicted her of general impairment DUI. Because it was a lesser offense, it was out of the jury's purview, he reasoned.

The judge said he accepted testimony that the panel had apparently rejected when they reached their verdict. That testimony came from the arresting officer, who said he "could not tell for sure" whether the woman had been driving the stopped vehicle. The judge cited the testimony of the woman and the people she was with as not credible. He also noted that under state law, someone can be convicted of DUI just for exercising control over the vehicle even if they aren't driving.

The woman now faces five days to six months in prison and a mandatory license suspension of 12 months. Her attorney plans to appeal, saying he's never seen a case handled this way. He said the verdict sends a strong message to DUI defendants who insist on a trial to prove their innocence: "We're going to stick it to you anyway, that's the lesson to be learned."

Source: The Morning Call, "DUI defendant who lost license acquitted by jury, convicted by judge," Riley Yates, Feb. 7, 2012