North Carolina House candidate accused of DWI
A cellphone call to police has led to drunk driving charges against a North Carolina public official. The North Carolina Highway Patrol says that a driver phoned in a report of a car moving erratically in Interstate 40/85 early Saturday morning.
A dispatcher put the report over the radio, telling law enforcement to be on the lookout for an alleged erratic driver. A North Carolina Trooper was in the area and says that he came upon the suspect vehicle shortly after the radio dispatch.
The trooper claims that he followed a Mini-Cooper for roughly two-and-a-half miles before conducting a traffic stop. The trooper claims that the Mini-Cooper was weaving and had crossed the dotted line between lanes and the fog line several times before he pulled the car over.
The trooper says that he identified the driver as a woman who is running for the North Carolina House of Representatives. She currently serves on the Mebane City Council.
Authorities claim that the woman measured 0.15 percent blood alcohol concentration in a breath test. She has been charged with DWI and failing to maintain lane control. She was released from the Alamance County Jail early Saturday morning on an 0 secured bond.
Sources say that the woman has two prior DWI convictions on her record that date back to the early 1990s. North Carolina laws concerning prior convictions are complex. Generally, when and how prior convictions may be used in a current case are governed by the law. The rules of court differ from the rules of public information.
Certainly, as this blog has previously reported, DWI charges can have harsh criminal consequences, but the collateral consequences of a conviction can also cause issues for a person down the road. Anyone accused of an alcohol-related offense or DWI has the right to be represented by legal counsel in a criminal case.
Source: The Times-News, “House candidate has previous DWI convictions,” Rosalee Papandrea, Oct. 9, 2012
- Our firm handles DWI defense in the Greenville, North Carolina area. For more information about the firm, please visit our Pitt County DWI defense lawyer page.