Former Prosecutor & DWI

It's a case that CAID is watching very closely. Anne Adams, a former prosecutor is in the midst of a legal battle of her own...charged with aggravated DWI. She appears to be getting special treatment by our local courts.

Let's go back to all this started...
At the beginning of September, Adams, 46, was arrested by Hamburg police after she was stopped and on Route 5 in Hamburg. When police stopped her red Ford Thunderbird convertible (it was weaving from lane to lane and nearly struck a guardrail), she failed all four roadside sobriety tests and her BAC registered at 0.19 percent. She pleaded not guilty during her arraignment.

Two weeks ago, during her last court appearance, Adams' defense attorney and former Leonard Krawczyk said that Erie County District Attorney Frank Clark broke a “gentlemen’s agreement” in the case by leaking witnesses’ affidavits contained in a defense motion to get the case quickly dismissed. Meanwhile, Clark said he didn't break the agreement, saying he made the affidavits public at the arraignment. "They thought they would get this done under the radar, get it disposed of quickly and walk away. That’s not the way it’s done.”

This has definitely not been your typical DWI court case. A State Supreme Court justice, a police lieutenant and a doctor all filed legal papers saying Adams wasn’t drunk that night, and on the opposite side of the courtroom, three district attorneys were in the Hamburg courtroom, and Adams’ case was handled by two prosecutors who do not normally handle misdemeanor charges there.

Adams claims she had two glasses of wine and a water with lime at Shanghai Red's restaurant that night.

Here's a link to The Buffalo News report on Adams' most recent court appearance.

What are my thoughts on this case? I feel that if Adams did indeed drive drunk that night, she should be penalized like anyone else who's convicted of DWI. She doesn't deserve special treatment, and her case should not be treated any differently.

We'll be following this case, and what happens in the courtroom and we'll keep you updated.

Deanna