TACOMA, Wash. -- A prominent drunk driving attorney got into a drunk driving injury crash only to have the vehicular assault charge dropped. That angered Mothers Against Drunk Driving.

On Wednesday members of that organization came to court to find out why this attorney was getting what they consider to be special treatment.

DUI defense attorney Janiece Lacross now finds herself on the other side of the law. Last November she drove drunk with her three young children in the backseat. She hit a boy on his bike in Kitsap County, breaking his leg and sending him into the bushes.

But the vehicular assault charge against her was dropped and reduced to just a DUI, which brought Mothers Against Drunk Driving to court to find out why.

"Should be upset about this and she had her own kids in the car," said Marsha Masters of MADD. "They could have been the real victims also and it is scary to think that those people are out there with total disregard to the community."

That was the way the proceeding started, with MADD being really mad. But things started to change when more of the facts came out and the attorney herself talked to the judge."

"Without this being taken wrong, last November was the best day of my life and the worst day of my life," said Lacross. "But basically it's been a smack upside my head and it woke me up and that's why it's the best day of my life because I'm finally addressing issues that I didn't want to address."

MADD learned that Lacross voluntarily went into in-patient alcohol treatment and she even helped the young victim, Joseph Griffith, with his civil suit for personal injuries. The vehicular assault charge was dropped at the victim's request.

"The true responsibility will be when I look Mr. Griffith in the eye and acknowledge what I did and apologize to him," Lacross said.

MADD is not so mad anymore.

"I feel a little bit better that she took responsibility for herself and I hope she is sincere in what she said in court today and that she makes those changes in her life," Masters said.

"Hearing that right away she took responsibility for her actions, got herself into treatment, doing what she needed to do changing her behavior and turning her life for the betterment of herself and her family says a lot," said Nora Sizemore of MADD.

MADD now believes this humbling experience will make Lacross a more responsible attorney as she heads back to defending suspected drunk drivers.

Lacross pleaded guilty to DUI and three counts of reckless endangerment. She'll serve 5 months of home monitoring with an ignition interlock system placed on her car. She'll have to continue her alcohol addiction treatment and attend victim impact panels.