Archives

The spokesman for Marion County Prosecutor Carl Brizzi resigned today after his arrest on drunk driving charges.

Mario Massillamany was arrested early Saturday in Fishers when police stopped him for exceeding the speed limit.

“The prosecutor’s office accepts this resignation in light of recent matters surrounding the employee’s personal activities,” said prosecutor’s office interim spokeswoman Susan Decker said in a written statement.

Massillamany, a former deputy prosecutor who was with the office for 4 ½ years, was also chairman of the Hamilton County Young Republicans. He was released on $2,500 bond later Saturday. Brizzi’s office would not divulge his salary.

Fishers police stopped Massillamany’s silver BMW at 2 a.m. when he was clocked going 71 mph in a 40-mph zone and crossing the center line near 116th Street and Arbor Glen, according to a police document detailing the arrest.

Police said his speech was slurred and repetitive and that his eyes were bloodshot and watery. Police said Massillamany failed several field sobriety tests and refused a breath test.

Source

Jason Wahler  is going for an all-time international party boy record — the former “Hills”  star just got charged with two counts of DUI after his second alcohol-related arrest in a month.

According to the Orange County District Attorney, Wahler — whose blood alcohol level was allegedly .15% when he was busted on March 19 — faces six months in jail if convicted.

Just a week earlier, Wahler was arrested after a bar fight in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico — then mysteriously bailed out and traveled back across the border to start more trouble.

Source

The Legislature should not back away from requiring ignition interlock systems for first-time drunken drivers, Mothers Against Drunk Driving said Monday.

That requirement was stripped by a conference committee Friday from a bill approved earlier in the week by a unanimous House.

MADD urged the House to reject the change.

“Lawmakers should do everything possible to reduce drunk driving and save lives,” said Frank Harris, state legislative affairs manager for MADD on Monday.

But Sen. Tim Owens, R-Overland Park, who chairs the Kansas DUI Commission, urged patience.

The commission, established last year, has undertaken a comprehensive overhaul of the state’s DUI laws and is expected to propose a package of changes next year. Wait for that instead of tinkering with small changes now, Owens said.

“To do all these little piecemeal changes is exactly the problem we have had in getting our DUI law the way it is right now,” he said. “I’ve requested we not have all of those little changes made. Even though they might be good, they aren’t ready for the comprehensive bill.”

Currently, interlock devices are required for drivers who are convicted of a second drunken-driving offense, who refuse a Breathalyzer test or who are caught with a 0.15 blood alcohol level — almost twice the legal limit of 0.08.

read more…

Motorists convicted of a first drunken-driving offense would have to install ignition interlock devices on their vehicles for a year under a bill passed by the Kansas House.

The 122-0 vote returns the measure to the Senate, which passed it earlier but must consider House changes.

Supporters believe the bill will reduce deaths and accidents related to drunken driving.

Ignition interlock devices prevent a car from starting if the driver’s blood-alcohol level is at least half the legal limit of 0.08 percent.

Kansas already requires the devices for people who are convicted of a second DUI, refuse a Breathalyzer test after being stopped or register a blood-alcohol level of 0.15 percent or greater.

Source

Superintendent of Public Instruction Randy Dorn issued a written apology Thursday for actions that led to his arrest in Orting over the weekend.

The apology came four days after he was arrested near Orting High School in rural Pierce County at 1:30 a.m. Sunday. On Wednesday, he was charged with one misdemeanor count of driving under the influence. He was scheduled to appear in court April 2.

In a statement issued by his office in Olympia, Dorn, 56, apologized for embarrassing and hurting his family and disappointing his supporters and staff.

“I work hard every day for the school children of this state and it pains me deeply that I have not set a good example for them,” he added. “I will work hard to earn back your trust and I pledge that I will never make this mistake again.”

The Washington State Patrol said a breath test found Dorn’s blood-alcohol content was 0.11 percent. The legal limit for driving in Washington is 0.08.

Along with the citation for driving under the influence, Dorn was issued a $124 ticket for allegedly driving his Toyota Prius at least 10 mph over the posted speed limit of 35 mph.

In his statement, Dorn also offered more information about the events leading up to his arrest but said he could not discuss the legal aspects of his case.

His wife, sons and he attended the annual crab feed and dance at the Swiss Sportsman Club Park in Bonney Lake on Saturday night.

“I drank beer during the event, but I thought I was capable of driving home. I now know that drinking any amount of alcohol before driving is an extremely poor choice,” Dorn wrote.

The head of the state’s K-12 education department said he continues to do the job the people of Washington elected him to do, including working on Washington’s application for federal “Race to the Top” dollars. He will be on vacation next week with his wife, a school librarian who is on spring break.

Dorn was elected in 2008 to a four-year term leading Washington’s K-12 education system.

Before taking his current job, he was executive of the Public School Employees of Washington union. Earlier in his career, he served seven years in the state House and worked as a teacher and principal in Eatonville and other districts.

Source

It may be a day reserved for drinking green beer and having fun, but when it comes to driving drunk, law enforcement was not playing games.

Law enforcement agencies across the metro area arrested 688 people during a six day period that began on Friday March 12 and ended March 18.

The crackdown set a new record for the number of DUI arrests during a St. Patrick’s Day “Heat is on” enforcement period.

“The Colorado State Patrol and law enforcement agencies across the state were able to remove 688 dangerous drunk drivers from our roadways before they hurt or killed someone. But we know it could have been much worse,” Colonel James Wolfinbarger, chief of the Colorado State Patrol said.

“The intensity of statewide DUI enforcement will not let up until we stop this deadly crime that kills more than 200 people each year in Colorado,” Michael Nugent, manager of The Colorado Department of Transportation Office of Transportation Safety said.

Authorities say during the same period, five people died in crashes in Colorado. It is not known if alcohol was a factor in those accidents.

Source

MONTPELIER — Hundreds of Vermonters calling for tougher drunk-driving laws – many of them friends, family members and classmates of a Swanton teenager killed in an accident almost three years ago – flooded the Statehouse on Tuesday.

The advocates were pushing for a bill that would increase the criminal penalties for repeated drunk drivers, inspired by the November 2007 death of 18-year-old Nick Fournier, who was killed in a car crash with an intoxicated driver.

Wearing blue shirts with the word “Nick” in white lettering, many said they felt frustrated and disappointed in the legislative process because the bill has not come up for a vote. This is their third year advocating for the issue at the Statehouse.

“We feel like they are not listening to us,” said Geoff Domey, a friend of the Fournier family who helped organize the lobbying, known as Nick’s Day. “We’re not going to give up. We’ll come back every year if we have to.”

The man accused of causing the fatal accident, Shawn Burritt, faced his fourth driving while intoxicated charge – this time with a death resulting enhancement attached – for that accident. Police said Burritt was driving down the wrong side of Interstate 89 and crashed his car head-first into a vehicle that Fournier was driving.

Among the changes to Vermont’s DUI law that advocates are seeking are including requiring prison time for a third or subsequent drunk-driving conviction and setting up a mandatory minimum of five years in prison for more than five convictions.

The bill has not moved beyond the House and Senate Judiciary committees, however. Those legislative bodies have jurisdiction over writing Vermont’s criminal statutes.

Rep. William Lippert, D-Hinesburg, chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, was on the House floor for most of Tuesday as lawmakers grappled with a major judicial restructuring bill and was unavailable for comment. In the past he has said DUI reform is a complicated issue and it would take extensive committee time to review.

Sen. Richard Sears, D-Bennington, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, said there was a chance that the DUI bill could be added to the Legislature’s bill on interlock driving systems for repeated drunk driving offenders.

“I expect that Rep. Lippert will look at this issue carefully,” Sears said.

One lawmaker the advocates do have in their corner is Rep. Brian Savage, R-Swanton. A freshman legislator, Savage took over the House seat of retired Rep. Kathy Lavoie, R-Swanton, several years ago. Passage of this bill was Lavoie’s goal, he said, and now it is his goal, too.

“This bill will pass,” Savage said. “I don’t care if it takes a lifetime to do it.”

During a late morning rally at the Statehouse, the advocates for tougher DUI laws were visibly upset at the lack of traction on the issue.

One man said “dirty politics” were the reason; another complained that other tougher criminal penalties based on Vermont tragedies — such as tougher penalties for sex offenders after the 2008 murder of 12-year-old Brooke Bennett — saw quick legislative approval.

“I can’t even fathom why this is not a priority,” said one woman. “After three years, we should see some movement forward.”

Rep. Michel Consejo, D-Sheldon Springs, urged the supporters not to give up hope. Issues such as a ban on texting while driving and the Brooke Bennett law moved through the process swiftly because there was strong and consistent support for these changes from Vermonters.

He said voters should consider where lawmakers and candidates stand on this issue before voting in the elections this November.

“It comes from the bottom up,” Consejo said. “The reason the bills went so fast is that there was a lot of pressure from the public.”

One lawmaker who supports the bill, Rep. Peter Perley, R-Enosburg, was charged with drunken driving and resisting arrest. He was arrested March 15 in Franklin County, according to news reports.

Savage said Franklin County has one of the highest DUI rates in the state, with 56 cases so far in this first three months of 2010.

Source

Police in Douglas County, Colo. suspect a 48-year-old Colorado State Patrol trooper was drunk while on duty Monday morning, reports CBS Station KCNC in Denver.

Authorities said their dispatch center received several calls from drivers concerned about a marked Colorado State Patrol vehicle driving erratically on Interstate 25 near Castle Rock shortly before 7 a.m.

According to a statement released by the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office, “The call was transferred to State Patrol due to the driving complaint being on I-25 and referring to a CSP vehicle. Shortly after 7:00 a.m., our dispatch center received a call from State Patrol asking for our assistance in locating the vehicle and checking on the welfare of the driver.”

At about 7:05 a.m. a Douglas County deputy spotted a Colorado State Patrol cruiser on a connecting state road that appeared to be the car people were calling 911 about. Deputies pulled over the cruiser and began talking to the driver, David Nolan.

News helicopter video showed deputies bringing Nolan out of the driver’s seat of the patrol car.

He had his hands behind his back while walking over to the deputy’s cruiser and once he got there he was handcuffed and placed in the back seat.

Nolan is being booked on DUI charges. The state police were expected to provide more details about the arrest later in the day.

Source

SALT LAKE CITY – Republican House Speaker David Clark said he was unaware of Kevin Garns DUI arrest until Fox 13 called for comment. Clark says the House would never condone any illegal or unethical acts. During the 2010 session, Kevin Garn was on the House Ethics Committee. Garn was arrested for DUI two months after filing to be a candidate in 2006. It happened just days before he earned his party’s nomination at the 2006 State Convention.

The Davis County GOP Vice Chair, Wade Farraway says vetting candidates is up to delegates who hold cottage meetings and Q and A sessions.

“Maybe one of the questions needs to be is there anything in your criminal past or in your history that needs to be disclosed. And i think that might be asked now in some of these meetings,” says Farraway.

Caucuses will be held statewide Tuesday night. Davis County will pick its delegates who will have the responsibility to narrow down 5 candidates who want to replace Kevin Garn.

Source

Nevada Attorney General Catherine Cortez Masto on Friday called for the resurrection of her agency’s Advisory Coalition on Impaired Driving after a series of investigative reports in the Reno Gazette-Journal revealed communication breakdowns and problems in the handling of drunken-driving cases.

“The attorney general wants to hear from advocates so our state can work through these important issues,” said Masto spokeswoman Edie Cartwright. “The Advisory Coalition on Impaired Driving is a mechanism to do that.”

Brett Kandt, a special deputy attorney general and executive director of the Nevada Prosecution Advisory Council, told coalition members in an e-mail that the DUI series in the RGJ has highlighted the “potential value” of the coalition.

Kandt said it should be used “as a forum for bringing issues to the attention of the agencies responsible for enforcing the DUI laws, to allow us to resolve them and work toward system improvement.”

The statewide coalition, which includes people from law enforcement, prosecutors, Stop DUI, Mothers Against Drunk Driving, crime labs, treatment providers and the Nevada office of traffic safety, was formed in 2006.

Laurel Stadler of MADD said geographic challenges have kept it from operating effectively. But the issues identified by the RGJ can help it focus its energy.

“The coalition can definitely do more — it has met so sporadically because it’s a statewide group and it’s hard to get members together,” Stadler said. “But it’s a good multidisciplinary cross-section of organizations and has a potential to set policy, recommend legislation and encourage everyone in the system to do the right thing.

read more…