Richmond Councilman Jewell could get jail time in DUI case
Richmond City Councilman E. Martin Jewell faces the likelihood of brief jail time if convicted of driving under the influence of alcohol.
Jewell, who spent several hours in the Richmond city lockup after his arrest Saturday morning and later was released on $500 bond, made an initial appearance yesterday in Richmond General District Court, where a judge set Dec. 7 as the date to hear the case.
Jewell attended yesterday's council meeting but would not discuss his case with reporters. He referred questions to attorney Henry W. McLaughlin, who represented the councilman in court earlier in the day.
McLaughlin, executive director of the Central Virginia Legal Aid Society, said Jewell will be represented at his Dec. 7 trial by defense attorney Craig Cooley.
"We have not made any statement, and I asked him to not make any statement," McLaughlin said of Jewell.
Richmond police have declined to comment on the arrest of the 5th District councilman, other than to say it took place about 1:30 a.m. Saturday near Byrd Park.
But a law-enforcement source yesterday confirmed several other details of the arrest, saying that Jewell was pulled over by Richmond police for driving erratically and that he consented to a breath test, which showed a blood-alcohol reading of 0.11 percent. In Virginia, a motorist is presumed to be legally intoxicated with a blood-alcohol concentration of 0.08 percent or higher.
Court documents show it was Jewell's first DUI charge.
The law-enforcement source said a typical punishment for people convicted in Richmond of first-offense DUI with blood-alcohol counts below 0.12 percent and no crash involved is one day in jail and a fine of $1,000.
The maximum punishment in Virginia for first-offense DUI, a Class 1 misdemeanor, is one year in jail and a $2,500 fine.
In addition, everyone convicted of DUI is required to enter the Virginia Alcohol Safety Action Program, an anti-drunken-driving school, and has their driving privileges suspended for a year. Typically, though, judges are willing to partially restore those privileges to at least allow work-related driving.
Saturday's arrest came less than two months after Jewell failed to show up in court for another traffic offense. Court records show Richmond police cited him July 10 for failure to obey a highway sign.
Jewell was supposed to appear in Richmond General District Court on Sept. 11, but he was convicted in absentia, fined $50 and ordered to pay an additional $77 in court costs. The $127 was paid 17 days later, according to court records.
Jewell, 64, who lives on Maplewood Avenue, first was elected in 2004 to represent the 5th District, which includes the Randolph and Byrd Park areas north of the James River and part of Hull Street on South Side.
Jewell, a longtime activist and owner of a residential cleaning service, ran unsuccessfully for the 5th District seat in 1998 and 2002.
Contact Joe Macenka at (804) 649-6804 or
.
Staff writer Will Jones contributed to this report.
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Reader Reactions
(City Resident) have mercy on Marvin. It is better to drink and blog than to drink and drive—It is also safer to be high on City Council than operating an automobile—as long as you have a ride home…
IT’S SEEM TO THAT EVERYONE WHO HAS COMMENT ID PERFECT.THEY HAVE NEVER A DRINK OR TWO AND DROVE HOME.
Arrested for drunk driving on Friday. Commenting on “public safety” in traffic planning matters at the Richmond City Council meeting the following Monday.
Not one councilman—or citizen—brought up the DUI arrest. Not one reporter asked about it publicly.
Does that make you want to move your business into the City of Richmond?
Does it make you want to drive into the city for a concert or theater event?
Does it make Richmoners proud?
Or is this just the type of thing that keeps Richmond the third—or fourth - rate city it is?
A bigger question is: Why is Henry W. McLaughlin of legal aid, an organization that represents the poor in non-criminal cases, representing Councilman Jewell? I believe, by charter and due to restrictions placed on them by the federal government, they aren’t allowed to appear in criminal cases.
The reality is that Jewell has not done a good job of representing citizens’ interests- go ahead, ask the citizens and residents. Now developers are afraid of losing his vote, including one for Echo Harbour.
But in addition to his leadership failing, this DUI reveals a failure in character, and more than ever, Jewell should RESIGN!
good grief, transportation engineers aren’t gods,—hey’re just like the rest of us humans: there are smart ones, dumb ones, helpful ones, scheming ones, stubborn ones, consensus building ones. Just because the transportation staff in ciy hall wanted that ‘roundabout’ doens’t mean it is the best thing for that intersection. People get pet projects that promise to solve all our problems, but they aren’t perfect, they don’t always work. Most latest greatest ideas don’t work, and ‘roundabouts’ will soon be on that list of “what were we thinking?—why didn’t we learn our lesson from the last time we threw money at somone’s $50,000 fesibility study?“
If Councilman Jewell was DUI as alleged, let there be no excuses. However, what punishment he deserves, if guilty, should not be any greater than what should be expected if any citizen were charged and tried in similar circumstances. His council position should not subject him to greater penalties or entitle him to greater consideration than any other citizen.
Notwithstanding the outstanding traffic charge, I could not help but note that Councilman Jewell, by all accounts, offered the most reasonable, thoughtful, and beneficial comments during last night’s Council session when he objected to the Council’s voting to override the recommendations of the City’s professional, licensed traffic engineers when Council members possess absolutely no engineering training or experience. That includes Councilman Tyler who is an architect, not an engineer.
As I have stated before, Jewell should have resigned a while ago.
JEWELL’S ARREST
NOT UNIQUE TO CITY HALL
To have a drink and drive is bad enough
but to be so stoned you are stopped by the cops is super dangerous behavior in a city marred by episodic violence and drunken disasters. But Wait !! Marty
Jewell’s fall from grace is small potatoes compared to others in the City Council history. It is not the first time Richmond City Councilmen had their day in court or Jail.
W. “Chuck” Richardson was busted several times for his heroin doings and dealings and he finally resigned.. The Mayor who announced his resignation
Leonidas B.Young would later serve time in federal prison for mail fraud, obstruction of justice and filing a false tax return while as mayor!
Former City Councilman Sa’ad El-Amin, went on to plead guilty to federal charges of fraud and conspiracy, and also spent time in the federal institute of higher learning.
And in his footsteps followed City Councilwoman Gwen C. Hedgepeth
indicted on charges of bribery and lying to FBI agents, and served time in the federal College of Bad Behavior. And there are other examples.
Remember our City Council is a mirror
to its upstanding citizens. Let us rejoice that Marty Jewell’s brush with the law is but an improvement over his peers past transgressions. I consider this progress and we should be thankful for that. We pray he never does it again—and never is around any FBI agents.
What the ham sandwich? How many drinks did he have? Skateyeightjillion?
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