Calififornia drunk driving attorney / San Diego California DUI lawyer news:

06/15/2007

Senate President James Metzen on Thursday pleaded guilty to drunken driving / DUI in Minnesota.


For his DUI convicdtion, Metzen, will serve one year of probation, 20 hours of community service and pay a $300 fine plus a $77 surcharge. He also will comply with the recommendations of a physiological and behavioral assessment.

After presiding over the last Senate session of the year on May 21, Metzen went out for drinks with colleagues. He had three to four mixed drinks, according to his lawyer.

A few hours later, Metzen was spotted weaving through lanes in South St. Paul and was stopped by South St. Paul police at 2:13 a.m. May 22. He blew 0.15 percent on a Breathalyzer test at 3:30 a.m. A later blood test found that his blood-alcohol level was likely 0.10 percent at the time of his arrest, said Rogosheske.

The legal threshold for driving while intoxicated is 0.08 percent.

The senator's driver's license was suspended when he was arrested. After 15 days, he was permitted a limited license that allows him to drive eight to 10 hours a day, six
days a week. Within about a month, his driving privileges will expand further.

Jo Baker, Minnesota victim impact panel coordinator for Mothers Against Drunk Driving, sat in on the Metzen hearing and suggested the senator was "getting off a little easy."

"This is a gentleman who should have known better," said Baker, whose son was killed by a drunken driver in Arizona 18 years ago. She said she attends most court appearances for drunken drivers in Dakota County in cases where the defendant is accused of seriously hurting or killing someone, was a repeat offender or, as in Metzen's case, was particularly prominent.