If you have been arrested for and charged with a drunk driving crime, you may be released on your own recognizance as you wait for your trial. This means that a judge will let you out of prison if he believes that you are likely to show up for your trial. The problem is, however, that a release is in a judge's discretion. In this story, a 20-year-old Tucson, Arizona, man charged with DUI-related second degree murder must wait in jail until someone can bail him out because a judge is refusing to release him.

The man was charged in a Pima County Superior courtroom after police alleged he hit and killed a driver last month. Police say that the 20 year old was driving west along Interstate 10 when he came upon a driver and vehicle stopped in the emergency lane. It is unclear what the 31-year-old driver was doing in the emergency lane or how well-lit the area was. The Arizona Daily Star reports that at approximately 1 a.m., the 20 year old hit the stopped vehicle and the 31 year old was thrown onto the interstate.

Pima County prosecutors sought an indictment for second degree murder and three other felonies and a judge set the man's bail for $200,000. When he asked to be released on his own recognizance or released under the supervision of a pre-trial services officer, he was denied. Despite the fact that the man is from Tucson and could be ordered to stay with his parents, the judge refused to release the young man.

It seems that the judge partially based his decision on the fact that this was the suspect's second DUI case. He also heard from the mother of the deceased driver, who begged the judge to keep the 20 year old in prison.

Source: Arizona Daily Star, "Bail slashed for Tucson man in fatal DUI crash," Kim Smith, Oct. 25, 2011