On Sunday, December 15, 2024, Mary-Jo LaFreniere was charged with OUI. Today, in Framingham District Court, she pleaded Continuance Without a Finding (CWOF).

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In Massachusetts, CWOF is a legal disposition in a criminal case. Under a CWOF, the defendant can avoid a formal conviction yet agree that enough facts point toward guilt for a guilty finding to be entered.

But instead of pronouncing guilt, the court sets the case down for an agreed-upon period—usually six months to one year—while putting the defendant on probation and requiring him to satisfy conditions, including attending educational classes, paying fines, or staying out of further legal difficulty.

If the defendant successfully fulfills all the conditions of probation, the case is dismissed at the end of the probationary period, and no guilty finding appears on his record.

A CWOF is different from pleading guilty. In comparison, it includes an admission that there is enough evidence for the government to convict; no official guilty finding results unless the defendant violates the terms of probation.

This makes a CWOF especially attractive for a first Operating Under the Influence (OUI) offense, such as LaFreniere. But a CWOF does not leave her unscathed. Although it is not officially a conviction for most purposes, a CWOF still has real repercussions.

For example, in OUI cases, a CWOF counts as a prior offense if the defendant is charged again in the future. This can impact license suspensions and insurance rates. Moreover, a CWOF shows up on police records; it may still be seen even after some background checks have dismissed the case.

Another repercussion is that the defendant loses their license for 45 days, an automatic penalty after entering a CWOF plea for a 1st offense. This is not imposed by the criminal court, but rather by the RMV.

Suppose the defendant does not satisfy the probation stipulations or is charged with a new offense during the period in which a CWOF is in effect. In that case, the court may revise its decision on the CWOF, find the defendant guilty, and impose a sentence up to whatever is specified as the maximum penalty for the original charge.

While this CWOF ruling offers an excellent chance to avoid a permanent criminal record, it must be accompanied by strict adherence to all court-ordered terms.