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A Long Wait for DUI Justice
Jackson Williams was in court Tuesday fighting a DUI charge brought under the city's zero tolerance policy, which the D.C. Council has voted to relax.
(By Robert A. Reeder -- The Washington Post)
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Allen said in an interview yesterday that she does not remember proposing the legislation. An aide to Ambrose said that neither she nor Ambrose remembers the amendment. Thomas died in 1999.
"I think we were trying to minimize the number of alcohol-related fatalities in the region," Allen said. "It was not my intention to have a zero tolerance policy. That was the police, using their own discretion in how they interpreted the law."
And different police officers have given different explanations of the zero tolerance policy that until recently was spelled out on the department's Web site. Inspector Pat Burke, former head of the traffic division, said the only zero tolerance is for drivers under 21 and for drunken driving, when adults have more than .08 blood alcohol, the legal standard across the nation for intoxication.
But some officers have said in interviews or in court testimony that the police policy does not allow for "one drop" of alcohol or that officers can arrest for levels as low as .01.
"Nobody is given that instruction that I'm aware of officially," Police Chief Charles H. Ramsey said yesterday.
Yet a number of defense attorneys say they hear it all the time. "I've heard it in police officer testimony in cases where I've seen very, very low blood alcohol content," said Richard Lebowitz. "And I've seen prosecutors accept it."
In May 1998, even before Allen's amendment went into effect, Willis Van Devanter of Poolesville wrote a first-person account in the Washington Times about the police department's zero tolerance policy. He was arrested in September 1997 for blowing a .03 after having a glass of wine during a dinner with friends.
"Jack Evans came on TV and said we need better police training back then," he said. "They knew."
On Tuesday afternoon, Jackson Williams shook his head and promised to return to court in December. His arresting officer, Timothy Carter, sat in court from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. He said he will collect comp time.
D.C. Council members Phil Mendelson and Jim Graham will be online today at 2 and 3 p.m., respectively, athttp:/
Staff researcher Don Pohlman contributed to this report.
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