Judge’s Drunk-Driving Case Ends in Mistrial
The drunk-driving trial of Los Angeles Municipal Judge Edward L. Davenport ended in a mistrial Tuesday after 10 members of a Beverly Hills jury failed to convince two of their colleagues that the defendant was under the influence of alcohol when his car crashed into another vehicle last year.
One holdout juror said he disbelieved the testimony of the arresting officer in the case. A 12th juror was undecided.
Judge Elden S. Fox declared the mistrial after two days of deliberations. Deputy Dist. Atty. Katherine Mader said she would bring charges again as soon as possible against Davenport, a 24-year veteran of the bench.
As a Los Angeles deputy city attorney, Davenport argued a drunk-driving case before the U.S. Supreme Court, winning a ruling that police are justified in taking a blood sample from a suspect against his will.
Davenport said he refused to take field sobriety tests for medical reasons, and that he poured out a urine sample at the police station because Beverly Hills officers did not administer the test properly.
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