Coors Pleads Not Guilty to DUI Charge

Ironic? You bet! The head of the Coors brewing empire and a former candidate for senate gets a DUI. I found this article at the Washington Post:

Beer company executive Pete Coors has pleaded not guilty to charges of driving under the influence and failing to stop at a stop sign.

His attorney entered the pleas for him Tuesday and Coors did not appear in court, said Jefferson County district attorney's spokeswoman Pam Russell.

Peter Coors, head of Coors Brewing company in Golden, Colo., is shown in this, July 1, 2004, file photo. Coors driver's license has been revoked by a hearing officer who ruled the executive had been driving under the influence of alcohol, officials said. Hearing officer Scott Garber ruled Friday, July 14, 2006, that Coors did not stop at a stop sign on May 28 and was driving intoxicated.

Coors, 59, vice chairman and a director of Molson Coors Brewing Co., was pulled over by the state patrol May 28 after he left a friend's wedding celebration.

Company spokeswoman Kabira Hatland has said Coors rolled through a stop sign a block from his Golden home and was stopped by the officer in his driveway. She said a breath test showed his blood-alcohol content was 0.088. The legal limit is 0.08.

Hatland said Wednesday the not guilty plea was part of the procedure of Coors' attorney asking for a pretrial hearing. She declined to say whether the plea indicated Coors was disputing the allegation.

"What I can say is he's sorry to be involved in this situation at all, including the court process, but like any citizen, he has rights now that he's here," she said.

Coors often appears in television ads for the company and ran unsuccessfully for the U.S. Senate as a Republican in 2004. He apologized last week for not following his own advice to drink responsibly.

Coors lives just west of Denver in Golden, the longtime hometown of the Adolph Coors Co. until it became Molson Coors Brewing Co. after a 2005 merger.

This posting originally appears at: Pacific Northwest DUI News

Southwest pilot, accused of intoxication, charged in federal court

It is a serious crime to get behind the wheel intoxicated and that is why the penalties for a DUI is so serious, now imagine the serious nature of an airline pilot flying a crowded flight under the influence of alchol. I have included the full text of the article found at the seattle times.

SALT LAKE CITY – A Southwest Airlines co-pilot accused of being intoxicated just minutes before takeoff was charged in federal court here Monday.

Prosecutors have charged Carl Fulton, 41, with one count of operation of a common carrier under the influence of alcohol or drugs. The charge carries a maximum penalty of 15 years in prison and up to $250,000 in fines.

Fulton made an initial appearance in U.S. District Court on Monday, but did not enter a plea to the charge.

A preliminary hearing date was set for July 28, although Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Kennedy said he intends to take the case to a grand jury, so the hearing may not be necessary.

Fulton was arrested Sunday morning after a Transportation Security Administration screener reported smelling alcohol on Fulton's breath at a security check point. That was about 30 minutes before Southwest Flight 136, on which Fulton was the first officer, was set to depart from Salt Lake City International Airport for Phoenix.

Court documents say Fulton told federal air marshals and police he had consumed two "large beers" at a local movie house that serves food and beer, and a third drink — vodka — at a bar in the hotel where Fulton was staying.

Fulton said he stopped drinking at 10 p.m. Saturday, according to court documents.

Airport police administered two breathalyzer tests on Fulton.

In the first test, taken one hour after Fulton was removed from the plane's cockpit and detained, his blood-alcohol level was .039 percent, court documents said. In a second test, taken six minutes later, Fulton's blood-alcohol level was .038 percent.

Daniel Love, an air marshal with the U.S. Marshal Service, said it was "mathematically not possible to have a BAC of .039 the following day if Fulton had only consumed three drinks," the documents said.

Federal Aviation Administration guidelines say a pilot is prohibited from flying within eight hours of consuming alcohol.

The FAA sets the blood-alcohol limit at .04 percent, although regulations state that if a pilot tests between .02 percent and .039 percent, he or she is not allowed to work. Regulations also call for a second blood-alcohol test within 30 minutes of the first test, and say that if the blood-alcohol range remains the same, the pilot can't work for another eight hours, or until the level drops below .02 percent.

Federal law provides a presumption of impairment at .10 percent, although federal prosecutors say that other forms of evidence can be used to prove impairment in court.

Dallas-based Southwest Airlines spokesman Ed Stewart said the company subscribes to all FAA regulations regarding alcohol consumption. Fulton flies for Southwest out of Dallas and has been employed with the airline for two years.

He has "a perfectly clear record," Stewart said.

Southwest has placed Fulton on paid leave — which prohibits him from flying — pending the outcome on an internal investigation. What action the airline may take does not necessarily depend on the criminal proceedings, Stewart said.

Fulton, of Fort Worth, Texas, spent Sunday night in the Salt Lake County Jail. U.S. Magistrate Judge Paul Warner released Fulton from custody Monday, on the condition that he not use drugs or alcohol while the case is being adjudicated. Warner also ordered Fulton to undergo random drug and alcohol testing.

FAA officials are also investigating the allegations and interviewed Fulton on Sunday.

The agency regularly matches pilot's names against DUI data in the national driver's licenses registry, FAA Northwest Region spokesman Allen Kenitizer said. The agency also requires airlines to have random testing programs in place. Between 2000 and 2003, more than 10,200 pilots were tested, FAA data show.