Rep. Wood in middle of legal troubles after OWI charge changed
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Rep. Jeff Wood, I-Chippewa Falls, continues to face legal troubles after the defense attorney in his drunken driving case quit and the charge itself was amended to a higher offense Friday.
Attorney Tracey Wood, who is not related to the representative, moved to withdraw as counsel from the Marathon County case after stating in an earlier brief her fundamental disagreement with how Wood wished to argue the case, as well as the fact Wood has failed to pay her retainer fee, according to online court records.
Wood, who contested the motion, said he had paid the fee, but Tracey Wood said he only paid half. Wood claimed he has paid the lawyer $17,000 in trial fees so far.
Judge Jill Falstad ruled additional time would not help to resolve the matter and allowed Tracey Wood to remove herself from the case.
Tracey Wood has already withdrawn from another pending OWI case involving Wood in Monroe County.
Tracey Wood’s office refused to comment on the issue.
Wood will now need to secure a new lawyer and is scheduled to reappear in court to discuss the matter within a month.
Wood’s OWI charge was also amended from a third-offense to a fourth-offense OWI as a result of his OWI conviction in Columbia County in April, said Marathon County Assistant District Attorney Kala Strawn during the hearing.
When Wood was initially charged in Marathon County, he only had two prior drunken driving convictions on his record from 1991 and 1992.
New drunken driving legislation in Wisconsin that went into effect in July makes a fourth-offense OWI a felony, but Wood was charged before the new law went into effect and his fourth-offense OWI is therefore only a misdemeanor.
Wood faces a maximum of 60 days in jail if convicted.
A plea bargain for the Monroe County charge against Wood was taken off the table Aug. 3 after Wood claimed he did not understand the agreement and therefore did not feel comfortable moving forward.
Wood was charged with OWIs three times between December 2008 and December 2009. His arrest in Marathon County was the second in this series of arrests. Wood was convicted in Columbia County for third-offense drunken driving. He was also charged with possession of drug paraphernalia, but that charge was dropped as part of the plea bargain.
Wood was arrested in Columbia County for driving erratically and told officers he had taken anxiety medication and cough syrup, according to the police report.
Although there was no alcohol in his system, Wood’s blood contained eight times the therapeutic range for a cough syrup ingredient called dextromethorphan.
Wood served 32 days of a 45 day sentence and was released early for good behavior and time already served. He was allowed work release privileges to carry out legislative duties during his sentence.
Assembly members voted to publicly censure Wood, but a resolution to expel the lawmaker failed.
Wood’s term in the legislature ends in January, and he will not be seeking reelection.
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