Prosecutor drops DWI against Actor Sam Shepard

Prosecutor drops DWI against Actor Sam Shepard

Prosecutor drops DWI against Actor Sam Shepard:  Samuel Shepard Rogers III was born on November 5, 1943.  Sam Shepard is a playwright, actor, author, screenwriter and director and has been so for more that 50 years.  Shepard has written 44 plays along with short stories and essays.  Shepard was awarded the Pulitizer Prize For Drama in 1979 for the play Buried Child.  He was nominated as Best Actor in the Academy Awards for his work as Chuck Yeager in The Right Stuff in 1983.  Shepard has been called the Greatest American Playwright of his generation.

 

Prosecutor drops DWI against Actor Sam Shepard: In May of 2015 Shepard was arrested and charged for aggravated DWI.  In December, 2015 that charge was dropped by the Santa Fe Prosecutor’s office.  The prosecution alleged that it was very unlikely that Shepard would be convicted of aggravated drunk driving given the evidence.  Shepard was initially stopped when a customer at the La Choza Restaurant called police after seeing Shepard fail to disengage his parking brake.  Because Shepard had consumed alcohol in the restaurant and had not left the parking lot he did not have to take a breath or blood test.  The evidence would have been that Shepard consumed one and a half margaritas and a sip of mezcal.  The Defense expert would have testified that such a drinking history would put Shepard’s blood alcohol level below 0.01 grams per 210 Liters of breath.  That is significantly less than the legal limit of 0.08 grams per 210 Liters of breath.  According to the Defense expert Shepard’s blood alcohol level would have been 0.05 grams per 210 liters of breath if he had consumed two full margaritas and a full shot of mezcal — an amount still under the legal limit.

 Prosecutor drops DWI against Actor Sam Shepard: The then 71 year old Shepard was not a candidate for the standardized field sobriety testing since the cutoff is 65 years of age.  If he attempted the standardized tests the officers would not have been able to distinguish the effects of his age versus the effects of alcohol.

If you have been charged with DWI, call Bob Keefer immediately at 540.433.6906 for a FREE CASE REVIEW.

 

Flavor Flav charged with DUI in Vegas

Flavor Flav charged with DUI in Vegas

Well known Rap Star Flavor Flav (William Jonathan Drayton) was arrested in May, 2015 for Driving under the influence of drugs (DUID), speeding and open container.  This happened near McCarran International Airport near Las Vegas, Nevada. According to the Nevada Highway Patrol Flav was initially stopped for driving 87 miles per hour in a 65 mile per hour zone.  After the Officer noticed the open alcohol container and conducted a DUI investigation, Flav was arrested.  Apparently the blood test came back in July of 2015 and disclosed the presence of cocaine.

Flavor Flav was born on March 16, 1959 and gained popularity as a member of Public Enemy a hip hop group. The group’s Public Enemy #1 brought them national attention.  Def Jam signed Flav in 1986.  Public Enemy went on to release Takes a Nations of Millions to Hold Us Back and Fight the Power.

Flav was a child prodigy; a self taught pianist at five years of age.  Subsequently mastering 15 musical instruments.  Flav dropped out of high school before graduation and did time for robbery and breaking and entering.  He also graduated from cooking school.  In recent years Flav has been involved in several reality shows such as The Surreal Life, Strange Love and Flavor of Life.  Flav also made news through his relationship with Brigitte Nielsen and their show Strange Love.  Flav was the subject of a comedy roast in 2007.  Attending were Snoop Dog, Jimmy Kimmel, Jeff Ross, Carrot Top, Ice-T, Greg Giraldo and others.  Flav also starred in Under One Roof with Kelly Perine.

Flav has been in and out of the prison system during his life.  Hopefully he understood that he had the right to request an attorney before answering any questions from the Nevada Highway Patrol.  Hopefully he understood that he could refuse a search of his person via the standardized field sobriety tests or a preliminary breath test device.  Flav needs to find a good lawyer in Nevada who understands that the standardized field sobriety tests are only vetted to show a probability of a blood alcohol content above or below the legal limit.  These tests have not been validated to show drug impairment.  Any attempt to use them in that fashion is simply wrong.

Flavor Flav charged with DUI in Vegas