Sen. John A. Giannetti Jr. (D-Prince George's) has long waged a legislative battle against drunken driving, filing no fewer than four bills in the General Assembly this year, including one to make it a crime to refuse a breathalyzer test.
Yet when his wife, Erin A. Giannetti, 26, was pulled over by police in Baltimore three months ago after a night of celebratory drinking, she called her husband for advice and then declined the common sobriety test, according to police records.
In an interview yesterday, the senator declined to relate what he told his wife that night, saying he is her lawyer and, as such, is bound by attorney-client privilege. But he added that there are times when a lawyer should advise a client against the test.
"I can't tell you what advice I gave to her. I can't say anything at all about her," said Giannetti, 40. "As the law stands now, there are circumstances where an attorney who is doing his or her job should advise a client not to take the test. There are circumstances when it's not in your best interest."
Maryland's lax policy on the breath test has long been considered one of the biggest loopholes in the state's drunken driving laws, which often leaves police without their best evidence that a motorist is legally drunk and allows repeat offenders to escape steeper punishments.
As many as 32 percent of Maryland drivers suspected of being impaired refuse the test. "We've got to get that number down," the senator said yesterday.
Giannetti, who said his younger brother was struck and seriously injured by a drunk driver years ago, has been among the leaders in the movement to close that loophole. That makes his wife's refusal to take the test -- and his possible involvement in her decision -- troubling for some drunken driving opponents.
"The bad part is, you've got people in the know using one of Maryland's frequently used escape routes in terms of beating a DUI," said Kurt Gregory Erickson, president of the advocacy umbrella group Washington Regional Alcohol Program. "The good thing is, it draws attention to the fact that it is a large problem in Maryland."
The senator, aware of the apparent contradiction, tried to clarify his dual roles as lawmaker and defense attorney. "We are a citizen legislature. My hat as a legislator takes into account what is best for public policy," he said. "When I go home from Annapolis, the issue is what's in the best interest of your client."
Erin Giannetti is enrolled in a 26-week outpatient alcohol awareness program, her husband said.
"I consider this incident a very personal family matter," he said. "We are handling it as a family, and we are doing everything that's appropriate. It is a very serious issue."
If one of Giannetti's bills became law, the penalty for refusing a breath test would be a $500 fine or up to six months in jail if convicted of drunken driving. If another of his bills passed, the penalty for refusing the test would be 12 points on a driver's license and up to a $1,000 fine or a year in prison, with or without a conviction for drunken driving.
Now, the sanction for declining a breath test is an administrative penalty of a 120-day driver's license suspension. Both bills were heard Tuesday in the Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee.
Erin Giannetti declined to comment yesterday and referred questions to her husband, who has won several accolades for his work opposing drunken driving, including the Mothers Against Drunk Driving Legislative Excellence Award in 2002.
