Marcus Coleman DWI Trial

[glad_ken]

Marcus' case went to trial yesterday. Has anyone heard any news on if he was found guilty?

[MadMax]

no decision yet. a parade of witnesses.

faces a maximum of 6 months in jail. yikes.

[mateo]

Was this his first DUI?

[glad_ken]

Yes, I believe it was his first.

[Rocket G]

First + no other person injured + good attorney/$10-12K = suspension of license, fine, + probation.

Jail is rare for a first time DUI unless you are broke, w/out an attorney, or just plain retarded.

[mateo]

First + no injury + no wreck + GREAT attorney = $10K, no suspension, no probation

My buddy got off with no record, but it cost him a bundle.

[codell]

http://abclocal.go.com/ktrk/news/072604_local_dwi.html

Coleman was found guilty.

Sentencing tomorrow.

[rrj_gamz]

An excerpt from the Houston Chronicle article....

Coleman Article (http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/front/2703179)

"But testifying Friday, Coleman said he was mistaken and actually had four drinks in the entire day, starting with a margarita at about 4 p.m. at Taco Milagro on Kirby. He said he later had a drink at Treasures, a topless bar, and at the Sam's Boat bar and restaurant."

Ah, Treasures, the best topless bar in the world...had many a good time there...er...I mean, I heard it was a good place to go to...;)

[codell]

Originally posted by rrj_gamz

Ah, Treasures, the best topless bar in the world...had many a good time there...er...I mean, I heard it was a good place to go to...;)

Hah.

For some reason, I see TJ testifying on the stand about Treasures and then ending his testimony with "CASE CLOSED", while the jury gasps in awe.

:)

[MadMax]

prosecutors recommending probation.

[codell]

Wow!

Coleman is going to spend 3 days in the slammer. Guess hell miss the first few days of camp.

http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=1847357

[codell]

Someone explain this to me:

Coleman's attorney, Rusty Hardin, asked the judge not to give Coleman probation and, if necessary, to consider a short jail sentence to resolve the criminal case as soon as possible.

"It allows him to get this behind him," Hardin explained afterward. "He now can move on and get started back with his career."

[glad_ken]

This seems like a pretty harsh penalty. I guess the judge didn't buy that he only had 4 drinks and threw the book at him. Also, I think its worse when there is an accident involved. He could have hit another car instead of that tree. It must have been a pretty strong case if Rusty couldn't get him off....


http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=320&e=3&u=/ibsys/20040727/lo_kprc/2305179


Football Player Sentenced To Jail, Fine For DWI

Houston Texan Marcus Coleman was sentenced to three days in jail and a $2,000 fine Tuesday for his conviction of driving while intoxicated, News2Houston reported.


Jurors reached the guilty verdict Monday afternoon after deliberating for six hours, including Friday until 11 p.m.


Coleman, 30, was convicted of a misdemeanor charge of driving under the influence.


In addition to the jail time and fine, Coleman's driver's license was suspended for one year. He will be allowed to drive to work in a car outfitted with a Breathalyzer device that requires him to breathe into it to start the vehicle.


Coleman faced up to six months in jail.


The Texans' cornerback was arrested May 6 after crashing his 2005 Mercedes-Benz into a tree on Kirby near Richmond in southwest Houston around 2:15 a.m. Coleman was released from jail later that morning on a $500 bond.


Police found Coleman standing next to his wrecked car. They gave him two field sobriety tests, which they said he failed.


The Texan was not injured in the one-car wreck.

[isoman2kx]

rusty hardin seems to be popular among the houston athletes :]

[jlaw718]

Originally posted by codell
Someone explain this to me:

Coleman's attorney, Rusty Hardin, asked the judge not to give Coleman probation and, if necessary, to consider a short jail sentence to resolve the criminal case as soon as possible.


When I'm pleading out DWI's, many people would rather not be on probation. For a first offense DWI, there is a minimum 72 hour confinement if probation is not imposed. Hence the 3 days in jail in lieu of probation (as opposed to 1 day, etc...)

If your sentence is probated on a DWI, there are two classes that are compulsory: a DWI Education Course as well as a Victim Impact Panel.

If you take these classes within the proscribed time your license will not be suspended.

However, if a person elects to forego probation for jail time and the prosecutor is amenable to that, then the person's license WILL be suspended automatically for a period of time. Probating the sentence with the compulsory classes allows you to preserve your license (of course, along with that comes probation fees, reporting, etc...).

If license suspension is not a concern then the jail time is the most direct way to put it behind you.

[Master Baiter]

If it were me, I would rather sit in jail for 3 days. No big deal. But when you couple that with suspending your license for a year, I would do probation. Of course I would never get myself into that situation to begin with.

[Rocket Fan]

I'm glad he at least got some punishment.

Dumb decision on his part to drive drunk.. glad no one got injured.. hopefully he learned his lesson.. I don't find 3 days to be harsh.. considering what could have happened if he had hit someone...


Steve McNair looks to be getting off a lot easier though and he had a gun as well (with a license, but he was drunk). They said his stop was unconstitutional.. or something

[rrj_gamz]

It seems to be harsh considering you never have athletes or other celeb's actually go to jail...3 days shouldn't be anything, but considering he could have killed someone, well...

Anyway, this should motivate him to be a better role model and player...

[Rocket Fan]

rrj.... exactly. so many celebs etc get off with hardly anything that it makes 3 days seem harsh.. it sets a bad example when so many people in the news get off so easily.. 3 days in jail might make him think twice before doing it again..

[Trader_Jorge]

He went to Treasures and allegedly only had one drink? A physical impossibility. That man is guilty of perjury.

[coma]

So what happens when a celeb goes to jail? Do they get their own special cell? Or are they part of the gen pop? I wonder if there are inmates that would wanna shank a celeb for the sake of doing it.

Maybe he can get sent to Oz and get McManus to give him special care. Perhaps the Muslims will protect him. He just needs to watch out for that O'Reilly.

[glad_ken]

Originally posted by coma
So what happens when a celeb goes to jail? Do they get their own special cell? Or are they part of the gen pop? I wonder if there are inmates that would wanna shank a celeb for the sake of doing it.

Maybe he can get sent to Oz and get McManus to give him special care. Perhaps the Muslims will protect him. He just needs to watch out for that O'Reilly.

He's probably going to county jail and the guards will tease the hell out of him for 3 days.