BREAKING: W’Burg attorney convicted in DUI case Friday, taken into custody

James Wren, II, the Williamsburg attorney charged with DUI last spring while on his way to court for a jury trial, was taken into custody Friday afternoon in Whitley District Court following a two-day trial in which jurors found him guilty of multiple charges.

Prior to meeting to deliberate their verdict, Wren, who acted as his own attorney, used his closing arguments to ask jurors for leniency while they considered their decision.

“Please, acquit me of the DUI,” Wren asked. “Even if you feel you have to find me guilty of something, convict me of reckless driving…Please, do not send me to jail.”

On May 24, 2023, Williamsburg Police arrested Wren, 68, after he was witnessed driving from near Exit 11 to Main Street while swerving all over the road and driving up on the sidewalk. He was reportedly traveling about 10 mph and making wide, sweeping turns. When police made contact with him, he had slurred speech and was unsteady when standing. 

His arrest prompted a mistrial in an attempted murder case he was actively working on in Whitley Circuit Court.

The jury—which consisted of six people, comprised of two women and four men—deliberated for just under an hour Friday before delivering their verdict, finding Wren guilty on both charges. 

Jurors sentenced Wren to 10 days in the county jail and set a $500 fine for the DUI charge. He will be required to pay an additional $100 fine for the count of reckless driving.

Wren asked Judge Benjamin Hardy, a Pulaski County District Judge appointed to preside over the case, to be allowed to serve his sentence on weekends. Prosecutors offered no objection. Wren then surrendered his driver’s license and was taken into custody.

He will be required to surrender himself at the Whitley County Detention Center each Friday at 6 p.m. and will be released each Sunday at 6 p.m. until his time is served. Wren will be given credit for the time he previously served following his initial arrest last May.

For the full story from the two-day trial, including testimony from the officer that conducted Wren’s field sobriety tests, see the Feb. 21 edition of the News Journal.