Assemblywoman Wendy Carrillo Pleads No Contest To LA DUI, Receives Restricted License For Three Months

Assemblywoman Wendy Carrillo (D-Los Angeles) pled no contest one count of  misdemeanor driving under the influence on Friday, avoiding a potentially longer sentence because of reaching a deal with the deputy City Attorney in dropping a second charge of driving with a blood alcohol content above .08.

The DUI itself occurred on November 3, 2023 in Los Angeles. Early that morning Carrillo, who reportedly had a blood alcohol level at least double the legal limit crashed into two parked cars. Witnesses to the crash said that she looked disoriented and was slurring her speech. When the LAPD arrived, Carrillo initially tried to hide being over the limit, telling police that she had sneezed at the wheel and subsequently lost control. Upon finding out that she was an Assemblywoman, the LAPD decided to conduct their investigation at a private location, but while wearing bodycams. There, she was given a breathalyzer, and upon finding out that she was twice above the legal limit, she was booked into jail for the night and was released later in the day.

The LA City Attorney’s office filed charges against Carrillo, including one misdemeanor count of driving while intoxicated, as well a second account of driving while above a .08 BAC. Following a longer wait time than usual because of the winter holidays, Carrillo’s case was brought before an LA County courtroom on Friday. In a deal struck between her attorney Alex Kessel and the Deputy City Attorney Adam Micale, Carrillo pleaded no contest to the DUI charge in exchange for the BAC charge to be dropped.

According to the plea agreement, Carrillo is to receive a restricted license for three months. During that time she must attend a DUI program and can only drive either to work or the program. Carrillo is also to pay a $2,000 fine, perform 50 hours of community service, and attend a Mothers Against Drunk Driving class.

Outside the courtroom on Friday, Kessel said that Carrillo was not receiving special treatment and that she knows that she shouldn’t drive while drunk. Carrillo herself was not at the courtroom on Friday.

“Carrillo has been attending Alcoholic Anonymous meetings since her arrest,” explained Kessel. “The plea agreement was typical and my client is not getting any benefit from the norm. She has wanted to accept responsibility since that night. This incident was an aberration in her life and shouldn’t stop her from doing the good work of what she always has done for the people of California and now for the city of Los Angeles.

“She felt completely fine, and there were some road issues. As far as drinking and driving, she understands that she shouldn’t have. But she accepted responsibility because there was a measurable amount of alcohol in her system. And she shouldn’t have had any alcohol while driving. And she 100% recognizes that. If there’s a personal issue with alcohol, I don’t think for the court process that makes a difference, because for that night in question, there was alcohol in her system. And I think she’s addressing that. I’m not here to comment on her personal life.”

Carrillo pleads no contest

In a short statement, Carrillo’s office added that “Today, Assemblymember Carrillo, through her attorney, pled no contest to the charges she faced. From day one, she has accepted responsibility for her actions and is committed to following the judge’s orders.”

Experts noted that while Carrillo was lucky to have the BAC charge dropped, the DUI charge will likely have a huge effect on the upcoming Los Angeles City Council race she is currently in.

“She’s facing two formidable opponents. Another Assemblyman, Miguel Santiago (D-Los Angeles), and the current Councilman Kevin de Leon, who is still facing heat from all those racist remarks he made back in 2022. This DUI is not going to go down well,” said Malik Griffin, a Los Angeles polling analyst. “We’ve seen a lot of DUI’s lately from candidates, like Dave Min’s last year that is still hanging over his head in that Orange County House race. Even if you can excuse as a lapse of judgement and apologize, the label sticks with you, and you can bet opponents will mention it when they can. Carrillo, well, she is the candidate who drunkenly crashed her car now.

“For those thinking they got off light, you know, they made deals, so they did. But also, those fines, that community service, those meetings. That’s not dreaded. What they dread is the political capital that a DUI takes away. Carrillo’s campaign is now in danger because of that. You can try and spin it any way you want, point is they did it. And voters don’t forget. They’ll have a ton of ads they’ll see to make sure of that. Or better yet, when people look up candidates in Google, they’ll see the name of the candidate and “DUI” in the search box come up on autocomplete. That is very effective and also very free for their opponents.”

More on Carrillo’s DUI plea deal is likely to come out soon.