Certain motor vehicle offenses involving drugs or alcohol require the defendant to undergo a substance-abuse assessment by the department of public health. These “24Q” evaluations are mandated by M.G.L. c. 90, § 24Q.
According to that statute:
The assessment shall include, but not be limited to, an assessment of the level of the offender’s addiction to alcohol or drugs, and the department’s recommended course of treatment. Such assessment and recommended course of treatment shall be reported to the offender’s probation or parole officer.
A 24Q evaluation is typically included as part of any plea deal or sentence in the following circumstances:
- Evidence suggests that the defendant’s blood alcohol level was .2% or higher when he operated his vehicle. (A driver is considered over the legal limit if his blood alcohol level of .08%.)
- The defendant has prior OUI convictions (This includes CWOFs. See Burke v. Board of Appeal on Motor Vehicle Liability Policies and Bonds, 90 Mass.App.Ct.203).
- The defendant’s intoxicated driving caused a serious bodily injury.
- The defendant is charged with vehicular homicide and evidence suggests that he was intoxicated at the time of the accident.
The defendant must pay for the assessment unless he can establish that he is indigent. As stated in the statute:
No person shall be excluded from an assessment for inability to pay if the offender files an affidavit of indigency or inability to pay with the court and an investigation by the probation or parole officer confirms such indigency or establishes that such payment would cause a grave and serious hardship to the offender or his family, and the court enters written findings relative thereto.