A 31-year-old woman is accused with her 7th DWI in Missouri, and 3 of those DWI charges are still pending.

Amy M. Bielke now faces 4 pending DWI cases after a felony DWI charge this past Friday. The 4 pending arrests occurred in May 2008, 2 in January 2009 and now October 16. She has been ordered to undergo court supervision and alcohol rehabilitation due to her repeated issues with driving under the influence. That treatment has not yet been fulfilled.

This case is adding fuel to the local media fire regarding how DWI cases are treated in the St. Louis area. Accusations that DWIs are not penalized harsh enough come from court reports that several counties have shockingly low DWI conviction rates, including Clayton, which notably had 0 DWI convictions in 2008. Clayton is home to a local University, Washington University in St. Louis, drawing more attention to the question of how 0 DWI convictions were made. 

The St. Louis Post Dispatch is questioning the practice of plea deals in DWI cases. The paper claims about half of the repeat offenders that go before area courts are allowed to bargain their way out of a conviction. In this particular case, Bielke has been arrested in 4 different areas of St. Louis. She is now being held on $32,000 bond, and she faces felony charges.

The practice of DUI plea bargains is not uncommon, and it cannot truly be attributed to an idea the courts do not take the charge seriously enough. More often, DUI plea bargains are the result of lack of appropriate evidence or adequate resources. 

If a DUI case goes to court, the breath test and/or blood test evidence must stand up to scientific reasoning. According to a recent Supreme Court ruling, this also means any forensic scientists involved in analyzing the evidence must be able to appear in court to testify to its accuracy. Many tests will not hold up to this type of scrutiny. In all cases, court resources will be quickly depleted by paying overtime to officers and scientists who must appear to testify.