MADD Unhappy with Ohio Prosecutor over ride with DUI suspect

CLEVELAND, OH

The group Mothers Against Drunk Driving is unhappy with an Ohio prosecutor for taking a ride home with a political ally who was stopped by police and charged with drunken driving.

The MADD organization in Cleveland says it's disappointed with Cuyahoga (ky-uh-HOH'-guh) County Prosecutor Bill Mason because his office has worked to lock up drunken drivers, especially those involved in fatal crashes.

The group says the outcome of the incident could have been tragic.

Mason says he didn't think his friend, a Parma city councilman, was impaired when he accepted a ride from him.

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Idaho cop charged with DUI, four couts of leaving the scene of an accident

Boise, ID

A shot and a beer, BBQ, some sleeping pills and the Ultimate Fighting Championship...sounds like cop heaven.

An Ada County Sheriff's deputy charged with upholding the law finds himself charged with breaking the law today.

Spencer Powers is accused of causing destruction in a Meridian neighborhood last week.

He has now been charged with driving under the influence and four counts of leaving the scene of an accident.

The city attorney filed the charges today.

And Powers' attorney Joe Filicetti responded.

He says his client, a detention deputy at the Ada County Jail, suffered a form of amnesia from taking the prescription sleeping pill Ambien.

"He had been at a party earlier that night which was a barbecue and watching the UFC fights, he had one beer and one shot over two hours, he took one Ambien originally, ultimately he took more, he doesn't remember doing that," said Filicetti.

What Filicetti says his client does remember is watching a YouTube video and then waking up in an unknown neighborhood five miles from his Meridian home.

Powers is accused of causing damage to two neighborhoods knocking down mailboxes, hitting a tree and a car.

Filicetti says because of the effect from the medicine, he doesn’t' believe the charges fit the crime.

"It is certainly negligence that somehow he gets behind the wheel with medication. As to whether a criminal act, it typically punishes for an intentional act, he doesn't have any memory, he doesn't make any choice, he doesn't do anything that ultimately puts him behind the wheel that he has any memory of," said Filicetti.

Powers has been on administrative leave from his job at the jail since the incident on August 8. He will stay there pending an internal investigation.

Powers will not be booked into the jail. We are told in cases like this where the defendant is not a flight risk. Instead, they are summoned to court.

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DUI suspect charged with offering officer $50 bribe

Lewiston, ID

Trying to bribe the cop who just arrested you for DUI with $50 is like trying to sell Laura Bush a gold-plated nipple ring. Call me a cynic, but I'd be willing to bet a dollar to a donut that if he'd had $20k in his pocket, the bribery charge would not have been issued...nor would the DUI charge have been issued...nor would he have been taken to the station and booked.

A Lewiston man arrested for drunk driving faces a felony charge after he allegedly offered an officer $50.

Second District Court documents show 23-year-old Scott M. Hayward faces a felony count of bribery of municipal or county officers after he allegedly offered the money in his pocket to an arresting officer.

Hayward was arrested early Friday morning on misdemeanor charges of driving while intoxicated and possession of marijuana.

Reports indicate Hayward was placed in a patrol car where he allegedly offered $50 to an officer.

A probable cause hearing is scheduled June 4.

If convicted, Hayward faces up to 14 years in prison.

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Hypocrisy alert: Boise police chief says department won't fire cop busted for DUI

Boise, ID

"We're not going to fire him." -- Chief Masterson

If committing a crime isn't grounds for termination, what is? How can the Chief talk about the evil epidemic of drunken driving out of one side of his mouth and then dismiss the significance of one of his cops getting busted for DWI out of the other?

Chief Mike Masterson: Hypocrite!

Boise's Police chief is speaking out about the arrest of one of his patrol officers over the weekend.

Chief Mike Masterson talked about the incident in which Boise Bench patrol officer Mike Miller was arrested for allegedly driving under the influence. Idaho State Police arrested Miller over the weekend.

"It's something that we don't tolerate," Masterson said. "We hold our folks to a higher standard and there will be consequences as a result of his actions."

The alleged incident drew some heat over the weekend when it was learned that Miller was not booked into the Ada County Jail, which ultimately meant a mugshot of Miller would not be posted onto the Ada County Jail website. Officials said they didn't put Miller into a holding cell due to safety concerns.

Miller has been taken off patrol pending the department's internal investigation. Although there will be consequences, Masterson said, Miller's job, is still in tact.

"We're not going to fire him," Masterson said.

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