• 18
  • January
    2012

In November, we posted about the dismissal of DUI charges that were originally brought against a Pennsylvania state representative. A judge decided to dismiss the DUI charges after taking issue with inconsistencies in the testimonies of the two arresting officers.

While this was a victory for the defendant, her celebration was short-lived. Later that month, the prosecution appealed the ruling and wanted the judge to recuse himself from the case. They cited concerns that the judge and defendant were Facebook friends.

However, since both the judge and the state representative are elected officials with thousands of Facebook friends each, it is quite possible that they did not know one another personally.

Nonetheless, the appeal recently came before a common pleas court judge who overturned the decision and reinstated DUI charges against the state representative. The common pleas court judge said: "I find that the [municipal court] judge did abuse his discretion. It was improper of him not to have recused himself."

The defendant's attorney said he was "shocked" by the ruling and plans to appeal to the state's Superior Court. Additionally, he was upset that the ruling seemed to put the municipal court judge on trial whom the defense attorney describes as "great" and "reputable."

He also believes that the original decision to dismiss charges was the correct one, noting that in all his years as a DUI defense attorney, the testimony given by the arresting officers in this case was the "worst testimony I've ever seen."

When celebrities and politicians face criminal charges such as DUI, many people allege that they get off too easy and aren't held to the same standards of criminal justice as the rest of us would be.

But in cases like this, arguments could be made that the opposite is true. Because of her high public visibility, it is conceivable that prosecutors may be trying to make an example of this state representative, and have used a technicality as tenuous as a Facebook friendship to overturn an unfavorable ruling.

Source: newsworks.org, "DUI charges reinstated against Pa. state Rep. Cherelle Parker," Aaron Moselle, Jan. 17, 2012