Maryland Delegate DUI Conviction Overturned
Maryland Delegate Herman Taylor II was recently acquitted for his past DUI conviction. This reversed the prior conviction in which he was found guilty of drinking and driving. He was fined Taylor was found guilty and fined $250.
Taylor was found in the parking lot of a 7-Eleven convenient store passed out in his Cadillac SUV in the around 3:30 am.
The arresting police officer, Peter Johnson said he smelled alcohol on Taylor’s breath when he found him passed out in his vehicle. He seemed disoriented and confused.
He also failed several sobriety checks and after he failed to walk on the white line without stumbling, Taylor refused to take any additional tests. Johnson then arrested him.
He did not cooperate at the station either according to police testimony and when he blew into the breathalyzer he pretended to blow but did not release any air, making the test invalid
The officers’ recorded the episode as a refusal to give a sample.
With the new trial, Taylor claimed he pulled over at the 7-Eleven to catch some rest as he was very tired. He saw police in the parking lot of the establishment and thought he would be safe.
He stuck by his decision to pull off the road stating it was the right choice
In this appeal trial, four jurors who were interviewed stated the prosecution did not prove the Delegate was passed out in his vehicle due to being under the influence. They did not have any hard evidence to support their case more than he was just exhausted.
Taylor’s attorney stated that his client was merely sleeping in his Cadillac. He was exhausted and pulled over into the 7-Eleven.
The prosecution in their rebuttal claimed that Taylor was unwilling to cooperate when police asked him to take the breathalyzer and that he smelled like alcohol when he was arrested.
According to the jury this was not enough to convince them that Taylor was drunk when he was in his vehicle and did not feel this was enough for a DUI conviction.
Taylor is known for his campaign to have special license plates for people who were convicted of drinking and driving under the influence to identify them as DUI offenders.
2 Responses so far
Joe
October 7th, 2009
4:09 pm
In this day and age, police are becoming more and more apt to arrest for DUI. The fact that Taylor was arrested while asleep in his car (with the car turned off) is kind of a point in his favor, don’t you think? If he was actually drunk, he was trying to sleep it off, not trying to drive.
james R
November 24th, 2009
5:21 pm
i was arrsted on 9/1/09 for dui , but they took blood work, there wasnt alcahol in my blood i was on perscription drugs for my tooth ache,, but my question is they keep delaying the court dates , and when i went in today they are still waiting for the blood work,,, , can they do that,,,,,,,,the DA said it can take up to 8 months to get test results,,,,,is that fair,,my 1st court apperance was 10/20/09 and the arresting officer called me and told me to come in nov /24/09 because the blood work is pending, I came in today and the DA said that its still pending and that she will notify me by mail when the test come in, and said it could take months ,,,what can i do, i cant afford an attorney because of this I lost a great job
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