Judge sends drunken defendant to jail

COLUMBUS -- A 49-year-old Newman Grove man, in court Thursday morning on a fourth-offense driving under the influence charge, showed up intoxicated and was led off in handcuffs to the county jail.

Platte County Judge Frank Skorupa found Robert Wells in contempt of court for being intoxicated when he appeared for a court hearing stemming from his Nov. 6 arrest for fourth-offense DUI, open container and drinking on public property charges.

Skorupa also revoked Wells’ two prior 10 percent of $5,000 bonds and reset the defendant’s bond at 10 percent of $100,000. The judge continued the case until 9:30 a.m. Wednesday.

Wells was found in contempt after being questioned by the judge about his apparent intoxication Thursday morning and submitting to a preliminary breath test conducted by probation officials.

During questioning from Skorupa, the defendant admitted beginning drinking alcohol about 9 p.m. Wednesday and stopping about 2 a.m. Thursday. Wells was scheduled to appear in county court at 9:30 a.m., but his case was not called on the court docket until about 11 a.m.

When Wells’ case was called by the judge on Thursday, Deputy Public Defender Timothy Matas said his client seemed to have “some difficulty” walking from the courtroom gallery to the counsel table before the bench.

“It was quite obvious he was impaired,’’ said Matas, who expected Thursday’s hearing to be a routine matter of asking the judge to continue his client’s case until after the New Year while the defense waited for some test results from the state.

Matas said the preliminary breath test conducted Thursday morning by probation officials revealed his client’s blood alcohol level was nearly three times the legal limit of 0.08.

Wells submitted to the test without complaint and offered no struggle when the judge ordered him jailed, Matas said. “He was very compliant.”

Matas said his client did not drive to the county courthouse on Thursday morning. An older couple drove Wells to the courthouse, he said.

Wells was arrested by a Nebraska State Patrol trooper for DUI and the other alcohol-related charges after a traffic stop about 5 p.m. Nov. 6 on Highway 45 near Newman Grove.

Well’s northbound vehicle had run into the guardrail on the east side of the highway, according to an arrest affidavit filed in the case by Trooper James Reilly.

The trooper said he initially stopped Wells to see if he was injured in the accident and, after noting the “distinct odor” of alcohol, conducted field sobriety tests. Wells was arrested after failing the tests.

After being released on bond, Wells was scheduled to appear at a Nov. 25 hearing in county court. The defendant failed to appear for the hearing and was arrested the next day in Newman Grove.

Wells spent about nine days in the county jail before being released again on bond Dec. 5.

Wells has been convicted of DUI three times in the last 11 years, all three times in Douglas County. The defendant was convicted in January 2003, October 2000 and July 1997.

The latest DUI charge is a Class IIIA felony, punishable by a maximum of five years imprisonment, $10,000 fine or both and no minimum sentence.