Three-week court session leads to convictions of 23 impaired drivers

_{Charlotte, N.C. –}  District Attorney R. Andrew Murray reports that over the course of a three-week period, the Mecklenburg County District Attorney’s Misdemeanor Appeals Team tried five defendants and convicted a total of 24 defendants. Of those 24 defendants, 23 were convicted of impaired driving offenses. The proceedings were held November 30-December 18, 2015, before The Honorable Carla N. Archie, The Honorable R. Stuart Albright, and The Honorable Lisa C. Bell, Superior Court Judges.

Two defendants were convicted at trial, while 22 others were convicted when they pled guilty or remanded their cases to District Court for sentencing. Prosecutors also made arguments in a case appealed by the State after a District Court Judge previously ruled in favor of the defendant on a matter of law. The judge granted the State’s appeal.

The Misdemeanor Appeals Team prosecutes cases in which the defendant was convicted in District Court and then appealed his or her conviction to Superior Court for a jury trial, as allowed under North Carolina law.

Alan Hoffman, 54, was tried for driving while impaired. The jury returned a verdict of guilty.  Judge Archie sentenced Hoffman to 30 days in the Mecklenburg County Jail; that sentence was suspended pending his successful completion of 12 months of unsupervised probation and 24 hours of community service.

Gregorio Reyes, 28, was tried for driving while impaired. The jury returned a verdict of guilty. Judge Archie sentenced Reyes to 6 months in prison; that sentence was suspended pending his successful completion of 12 months of supervised probation. As conditions of his probation, Reyes must serve 3 days in the Mecklenburg County Jail and complete 72 hours of community service.

Three found NOT GUILTY

Dersiree Deville, 26, was tried for driving while impaired. The jury returned a verdict of not guilty.

Mari Klos, 52, was tried for driving while impaired. The jury returned a verdict of not guilty.

Mehul Gadhia, 41, was tried for driving while impaired. The jury returned a verdict of not guilty.

The following defendants are among those who pled guilty:

Jeffrey Hovis habitual offender DWI Mecklenburg County Sheriff NC convicted 021716CHARLOTTE MECKLENBURG POLICE DEPARTMENT

Jeffrey Hovis, 27, pled guilty to felony habitual impaired driving. Hovis was sentenced to 1527 months in prison.

Dawn Lewis Rierson Mecklenburg County Sheriff’s Office charged 2 times in Aug 2014 convicted 2015

Dawn Rierson, 49, pled guilty to felony habitual impaired driving. Rierson was sentenced to 13-25 months in prison.

Avis Blair Honeycutt convicted of DWI arrested by Davidson Police Dept. Mecklenburg County District Attorney 021716

Avis Honeycutt, 37, pled guilty to driving while impaired. Honeycutt was sentenced to 12 months in prison; that sentence was suspended pending his successful completion of 18 months of supervised probation. As a condition of his probation, Honeycutt must serve 7 days in the Mecklenburg County Jail.