(262) 786-7100
Start with a FREE Consultation:
(262) 786-7100
A wet reckless plea is a slang term for bringing an OWI offense to a reckless driving traffic ticket. This plea bargain is often used when someone with an OWI charge attempts to reduce charges to a non-criminal offense.
In Wisconsin, a person charged with an OWI has more options other than going to trial. One of those options is to negotiate for a “wet reckless” plea deal. Distilled to its most basic parts, a wet reckless occurs when a prosecutor agrees to amend an OWI charge to the lesser offense of reckless driving, a non-criminal traffic ticket punishable by 6-points and a monetary fine.
For obvious reasons, a wet reckless is a favorable outcome for many. First, it resolves the case without an OWI conviction. This means lesser fines, no mandatory loss of your license, no requirement to install an interlock ignition device (IID) on your vehicle, and no jail time.
Second, it can protect you from issues from background checks. It is important to keep in mind that the term “wet reckless” or “wet and reckless” is not a legal term. Rather, it is a slang term to reference that alcohol was involved in the incident. Because the ticket will just be for reckless driving, some background checks may be ignorant of the fact that a person’s reckless driving ticket was instead a “wet reckless.”
In some cases, background checks only reveal title of the ticket, the offense date, and little to no other information. Couple this with the fact that police can issue a reckless driving ticket for any number of reasons (speeding, tailgating, cutting lanes, etc.) and it may not be obvious your reckless driving ticket involved alcohol.
Sounds almost too good to be true to get out of an OWI. That’s because negotiating a wet reckless is exceedingly difficult. Wisconsin state statute 967.055 strongly encourages the “vigorous prosecution” of OWI offenses, so it is hard to get reductions. This means prosecutors are reluctant to agree to a wet reckless, so to get this you will need an expertly persuasive legal argument to change their mind.
Understandably, persuasive arguments require persuasive facts. Some facts that can be persuasive include having:
Wet reckless plea deals are difficult to negotiate and are resisted by most prosecutors. However, wet reckless plea deals do exist, and they can be offered with proper negotiation.
A “wet reckless” or “wet and reckless” is slang for an OWI charge that has been amended to a traffic ticket for reckless driving.
A wet reckless is a non-criminal traffic citation for reckless driving. It is punishable by a fine and six demerit points to your license. There is no jail, there is no mandatory suspension of your license, and there is no requirement to install an ignition interlock device (IID) on your vehicle.
A wet reckless is a traffic ticket punishable by a fine and six demerit points. Whereas an OWI in Wisconsin includes the same penalties plus revocation of your license, counseling for substance use, and installation of an interlock ignition device (IID) on your vehicle.
Typically, a wet reckless is negotiated between you, your attorney, and the prosecutor in the form of a plea agreement. Although wet reckless plea agreements are not common, strong defenses, constitutional issues, and problematic evidence are common factors that lead to wet reckless plea agreements.
Whether or not a wet reckless shows up on a background check will depend on how specific the background check gets. For example, a background check for a criminal record is unlikely to find a wet reckless because it is a non-criminal offense. Furthermore, in checks where it is found, it will come up as a reckless driving ticket. Tickets for reckless driving are given for many reasons such as speeding, tailgating, cutting lanes, etc.
There is no BAC, or legal limit, required for a wet and reckless. However, wet reckless plea agreements typically occur if the BAC is less than the legal limit.
