Warren Diepraam, a prosecutor with the specialized prosecutions division of the Montgomery County District Attorney’s Office, was honored with a 2013 Public Service Award by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) earlier this year.
NHTSA Administrator, David Strickland, presented the award at the Lifesavers Conference in Denver (Strickland and Diepraam are pictured, below). Lifesavers is the world’s largest traffic safety conference and is held yearly; the award is handed out at the conference to individuals or programs that have beneficially enhanced national traffic safety causes.
Strickland noted that Diepraam was recognized for his innovation, including prosecuting habitual drunk drivers for felony murder, rather than intoxication manslaughter, when they kill someone while committing a felony DWI, as well as his office’s “no refusal” program. That’s when peace officers, prosecutors, and judges team up to execute search warrants for blood samples when drivers suspected of intoxication refuse to provide breath samples.
Congratulations, Warren!
May-June
2013