A Marion County deputy prosecutor was arrested Saturday in Broad Ripple on preliminary charges of driving while intoxicated and leaving the scene of an accident.Oops.
One would think that a, you know, deputy prosecutor would realize that the "Maybe nobody saw me" tactic almost never works in a crowded residential neighborhood...
Lots of mistakes can be forgiven, and everyone makes mistakes.
ReplyDeleteBut... 'stupid' is unbecoming a public official, especially one connected to law enforcement. I am generally moved to be unforgiving of 'stupid' amongst those with authority over us commoners.
But.... then I look in the mirror, and what I see tells me I might not be the best person to pass such judgments. I seem to be racking up large amounts of stupid lately.
Just another administration official trying to prove that laws only apply to the 'little people'.....
ReplyDeleteI can hear the words now as he told the arresting officer: "Do you know who I am oshifer? I has high friends in important places."
Gmac
Well, let's see. Drunk _and_ panicky after a car accident ... doesn't sound like a recipe for good judgement to me.
ReplyDelete(Verification word: "terma," a reference to sacred teaching texts of Tibetan Buddhism. Hmmm...)
Where's the "Only Ones" title? There's got to be an Only Ones title for this.
ReplyDeleteI suspect that being a deputy prosecutor there isn't a political position. If it's like where I'm from, you simply apply for the job and the District Attorney decides whether or not to hire you. It's basically the same thing as being a deputy sheriff.
ReplyDeleteShe should have known better than to run, but she should also have known better than to get a DUI.
"Only Ones", Hell, this ihas happened several times in the last few years to judges in Seattle!
ReplyDeleteFirst, I hope the other people are alright.
ReplyDeleteSecond, I hope Ms. DePrez can talk to someone about this. I've been a prosecutor (in another state) for a long time. I worked hard to get here, and I can't imagine how black things would seem if I lost my profession.
And Jesus Alberto Valenzuela is still in prison, she should take heart from that:
http://www.imperfectparent.com/topics/2008/05/22/man-sentenced-to-32-years-for-child-molestation/
Third, Gmac seems to take joy from finding that people in positions of responsibility have problems.
Or are the factory worker, maid, and dentist with DUIs also trying to prove that laws only apply to the 'little people'?
She's obviously not "trying to prove" anything, from her picture at least :
http://wthr.images.worldnow.com/images/10712446_BG1.jpg
She knows her career is over at 28. It's a shame she did what she did, and I can only wonder what drove her to destroy what she worked so hard to build.
If she'd chosen to do it through suicide or streaking, I'd feel sorry for her. I had a classmate who tried to wreck her profession with petty and obvious shoplifting, it was just heartbreaking.
But even though this might be a "cry for help" so to speak, she endangered, and harmed, the people she's sworn to protect.
Whiskey in, judgement out.
That's what etoh is FOR, it's a judgement remover.
My old criminal law professor, Roger Groot, used to explain why the voluntary intoxication defence always fails- because it's saying
"I drank to get f*cked up.
I drank until I was f*cked up.
Then, I f*cked up.
Let me get away with it."
Also, this isn't "stupid" or a "mistake".
A mistake is I pushed 3 on the elevator buttons instead of 8.
Stupid is, I didn't put everything I had into gold when the war started in 2003.
It's not even just gross or embarrassing behaviour, like cross dressing or satan worshipping under circumstances where the public can find out about it.
A .15 is very dangerously impaired. It doesn't come from "one more than I thought". It comes from about six beers in an hour, more if over a longer period or she's less than 130 pounds.
DUI is a crime because it's an act of disregard for everyone on the road. She knows it, she's been trained about it and she's said it to judges and juries.
Whiskey doesn't mix any better with car keys than it does with guns, telephones, or electric mail.
Sad all around.
Tam, back here in Knox some of the local smoky bears are likewise still not understanding the whole serve and protect thing.
ReplyDeleteSources say KPD officers plied teen girls with liquor, enticed striptease
Staghounds,
ReplyDeleteGrapevine says it was a parked car, but I'm still detail-poor.
As I was driving down this morning, WIBC said it was a parked car.
ReplyDeleteMay or may not be accurate, you know how ladies on the radio are.
Shootin' Buddy
The .15 mentioned indicates the driver is most likely a budding alcoholic. Unknown time factor muddies the certainty. Typically, only a heavy drinker can function at that level of BAC. That she could FIND the car, let alone drive, is not a good sign. When it gets to .20 or higher and they are still functioning is solid proof of alcoholism.
ReplyDeleteI figured it was parked and empty, the papers would have mentioned people if there had been any. Makes it sound scarier.
ReplyDeleteWill, that was my thinking too. Sad.
.15 could also indicate that a female was drinking on an empty stomach, which is usually what I see on a case like this.
ReplyDeleteStill even with the 10% error rate of the DataMaster Guiltometer, it does not sound like an easy case to defend.
Shootin' Buddy
FWIW, morning news says she has resigned.
ReplyDeleteBetter to leave your badge on the supervisor's desk than to be fired.
ReplyDeleteWe shall see what the Supreme Court does. OWI is one thing, but to compound it with a LSA should get her some beach time.
If she is a hobby lawyer, no biggie, but if she has to work, 60 days on the beach can be rough.
Shootin' Buddy
WV: "bacion", what Tamara has for breakfast in France.
Staghounds put it well. I was too tired to. And Shootin' Buddy put it well, too; almost double the legal limit is pretty damned hard to make much of a defense out of.
ReplyDeleteAs for the concept of she should have known better... sadly, she knew that she did have a better chance if she left. Hell, she had already committed an illegal act. In for a penny, in for a pound, right?!?
In fact, she might well have (had she not fled and gotten caught) gotten deferred, and thrown herself on the mercy of her county H.R. as having an addiction, which they simply can't fire her for, as it would be a violation of the ADA. . . (And after all, she didn't get convicted....)
That trick only works once, though.
But once you get caught running, you're toast. Time to look into whether the state bar will let her continue to practice at all, on the other side. Barring that? Time to hit grad school in another field altogether. This one ain't workin' out.
Shootin' Buddy said: "Still even with the 10% error rate of the DataMaster Guiltometer, it does not sound like an easy case to defend."
ReplyDeleteI haven't taken the time to read up on IN law, but I would be surprised if it didn't allow that .08 BAC is merely the prima facie level to presume intoxication. When someone runs into a parked car with .07% BAC, I'm inclined to consider them intoxicated*, too.
-MG.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
* Having lost the normal use of their mental and/or physical facilties by introduction of a drug, dangerous drug, alcohol, or a combination. . .. .
"Time to look into whether the state bar will let her continue to practice at all, on the other side."
ReplyDeleteGeez, it's not a death sentence. Even the Indiana "shoot first, ask questions later, there's no humor in the law and this here state ain't Illinois, boy" Supreme Court won't disbar her forever.
Private reprimand, public reprimand, 30 days, 60 days, suspended until counseling, lots of outcomes. The Disciplinary Commission is a little harder on prosecutors but she will survive.
Wait and see what happens here.
Shootin' Buddy
You know what? I'll cop to making a stupid comment before I read the article. No problem, it was and I did it.
ReplyDeleteShe made no such comment nor did she try to evade responsibility as I implied.
But as an officer of the court she bagged herself when the easy out was a call for a cab and she knew it.
Gmac