Calif. Prosecutor Drops DUI Charges Against Nevada Prosecutor

By BONNIE BUCK

Updated 7:30 AM PST, Wed, Apr 1, 2009

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A Nevada prosecutor pleads guilty to reckless driving and won't be prosecuted for DUI in connection with two crashes in a six-hour span, according to the Las Vegas Review-Journal.

Nye County District Attorney Bob Beckett crashed two cars within six hours on the same stretch of California highway in June 2008. He failed an alcohol breath test at the scene of the second crash.

In September, Beckett pleaded not guilty to DUI charges.

But he changed his plea after the DUI charges were dropped, pleading guilty instead to reckless driving. As part of the plea, he is also required to complete a class on alcohol and automobiles.

Beckett will not be prosecuted for drunken driving under the plea deal entered in Barstow, Calif., Superior Court on Friday.

In the first crash, which happened early afternoon, Beckett totaled the county-issued SUV he was driving on California Route 127, south of Shoshone, Calif. No other vehicles were involved.

After riding home in a tow truck, Beckett went out to the same highway in his own van, crashing six hours later.

After failing a breath test for alcohol at the scene, Beckett was arrested, taken to Baker, Calif., and released into the custody of a friend, according to LVRJ.com.

San Bernardino County deputy district attorney Joel Buckingham said the plea agreement was not out of the ordinary and Beckett did not get any special consideration.