As Steve Oberman from Tennessee recently noted (see his blog entry of August 10, 2012), anyone can be arrested for suspected DUI. Recently in California, a priest was stopped without probable cause while driving his mother home from a family dinner.
Stopped in a DUI Checkpoint, the Reverend Salvatore Cordileone (archbishop-elect of San Francisco) was arrested in San Diego after blowing into a breath-alcohol detection device that reportedly showed a result over the .08 percent or higher statutory limit.
Rev. Cordileone was booked into the San Diego County Jail shortly after midnight, and not released until around noon the next day. He was required to post a bond because of his out-of-county residency. Even though Cordileone had committed no traffic violation, the arresting officer asserted that he was “obviously impaired.” However, impairment for purposes of “driving under the influence” in a California DUI prosecution, requires proof beyond a reasonable doubt that the motorist lacked the ability to drive with the caution and care of a sober person, under similar circumstances, as a result of consuming alcohol or drugs, or both.
The priest was one of 11 people arrested at this DUI Checkpoint, though police declined to say how many of those 11 were arrested on suspicion of drunk driving. For professional legal assistance on a DUI or DMV matter pending in Northern California, contact Board Certified DUI Defense attorney Paul Burglin.
