POLITICIAN 1: BRIBES AND BANKRUPTCY
by John Lee
A lawyer is a man who prevents someone else from getting your money. --Will Rogers
How does a lawmaker handle an alleged DWI arrest? Does he do anything differently than an average citizen? After all, he helped write the DWI laws, and unlike an average citizen, actually got to vote on them.
Kenny Poole had been a part-time state legislator for the past 20 years, earning $16,500 per year, and recently retired from 30 years working for the school system, earning $55,000 per year. He is 57 years old.
While driving along the Interstate at 9:00 a.m., Kenny was pulled over by a state trooper. He had not been observed committing any traffic violation. It seems an anonymous informer had called police alleging that Kenny had been driven in a less-than-perfect manner. The trooper let Kenny go with a warning. A few minutes later, the trooper alleged that he saw Kenny in his rear view mirror, allegedly driving less-than-perfectly, so he pulled him over a second time. Police are not allowed to make a traffic stop based upon an allegation by a third person (other than another police officer), since a traffic violation is not a felony (over one year in prison)--the police must witness the alleged traffic offense themselves. DWI is a misdemeanor, meaning the maximum sentence is less than one year in prison. Hence, the need for the trooper to make a second stop.
The trooper asked if he would voluntarily agree to take a field sobriety test, and forfeit his legal right to say no. He agreed to take the test. The cop alleged Kenny "was unsteady on his feet and his eyes were bloodshot."
The trooper alleged he had failed the test. Kenny was then arrested for DWI. At the jail, police asked if he would voluntarily agree to take a breath-alcohol test (under threat of losing his driver's license). He chose to exercise his legal right to not take the breath-alcohol test. His driver's license was immediately suspended.
The legislator was charged with alleged DWI and was also charged with violation of the government's implied consent law for refusing the breath-alcohol test.
Kenny scheduled a preliminary hearing regarding the legality of the traffic stop and arrest. However, his attorney negotiated a plea bargain two days before the hearing took place. The news media took quite an interest in his case, giving him top billing in the front page headlines all over the state.
A few weeks after the DWI arrest, Kenny filed Chapter 7 bankrupcy, listing $220,000 in unsecured bank loans that he will avoid paying back. The banks were both in-state and out-of-state.
Currently, legislators must file campaign financial disclosure statements regarding campaign spending and contributions and an annual conflict of interest statement showing income sources and other financial interests.
"The public and the voters shouldn't be in the position of speculating about what relationships or interests might be in operation here that could affect a lawmaker's public duties," said an attorney who specializes in consumer and health-care insurance issues. "We can speculate, but wouldn't it be nice for the public if it was all there, and it did not invite concern or cynicism."
The director of a consumer group said the legislator's bankruptcy case could reflect a "shortcoming" in the state's financial disclosure laws. "We should not only understand what interests officials have in terms of their business assets, but we should also know to whom officials owe large sums of money and therefore may be beholden to."
The state commissioner for Financial Institutions, the overseer of state banking, said bankers are not permitted to make loans based on "connections." "If we see banks making loans to friends, that is preferential. That's called insider dealing and could be criminal in extreme cases."
The approval of unsecured loans does not represent "good lending practices," admitted the vice president of one of the banks that will now forfeit its investment in the legislator.
The prosecutor in the DWI case questioned, "Do you think if I were in bankruptcy I could afford to hire the most expensive lawyer in [the] county? It makes you wonder."
Kenny pled "no contest" to DWI and violation of the Implied Consent law, receiving $380 in fines plus extensive court costs and attorney fees. A no contest plea means he did not admit guilt, but for sentencing purposes it is treated as a guilty plea (penalties are the same). The legislator was ordered to serve two days in jail. After purchasing expensive high risk vehicle insurance, the government sold him a restricted driver's license for attending sessions of the state legislature. If he is stopped by police driving anywhere else, the prosecutor can petition the court for the lawmaker to serve the full year in jail. [Newspaper reports]
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