I thought I had heard it all when the mayor in Toronto- Rob Ford admitted to partying and smoking crack! Funny, but not really. You can almost look at the man and see crack written all over him so since you elected him shame on you. Now you can't get rid of him. However, if you use Washington DC as an example, Mayor Barry, well heck it's almost a right of passage. Not to mention that he was re-elected after this miraculous concession of smoking crack!
Having said that, the purpose of this article is to shed some light on the attractive Grafton, Cleveland Mayor Megan Flanigan. She allegedly was driving drunk when she struck a fire hydrant very close to her house. It is unclear to me what happened next but the article seems to indicate that she was on scene when the cops arrived, possibly still in the vehicle. I don't know if she left or could have left the scene and returned when the police arrived. The cops smelled alcohol on her breath and requested she perform the normal field sobriety tests (mistake #1) which apparently did not go well and she was arrested and taken to the station. The article did not indicate what if any number she blew at the station (mistake #2) if she did blow.
The article did continue on however that after she left the police cruiser evidently they found some illegal pill of some kind in the back seat which they are attempting to charge the mayor with. This of course will not stick because the police failed to do their job correctly, but that does not stop them from attempting to stick the pill on the drunken mayor.
At the outset, the mayor in this case hit a fire hydrant, it's not clear if her airbags deployed thereby hitting her in and about the face and chest area with great force. Either way, deployment or not, following an accident, the field tests are a dumb idea! These damn tests are bad enough for a sober person to perform in the dark and under the stress of an arrest. Factor in an accident of any significance, compounded by an airbag explosion and they become the most ridiculous display of physical acumen that one can ask for. The cops however don't give a damn, nor should they. They are after the ever elusive conviction just like the prosecutor's office. Thus, any evidence that supports their contention that a driver was drunk will work nicely for them. It therefore becomes incumbent on the motorist to recognize the insanity they are being asked to take part in and say "no freaking way am I doing roadside gymnastic tests following an accident." Frankly, one should say that same line under any circumstance accident or not because the stupid tests are strictly voluntary and since they are designed and offered under circumstances which all but guarantee failure, it's a bad idea.
Now, regarding the pill in the car, give me a break! If the cops failed to search this woman at the time of arrest for whatever reason, that is on the cops. Anything you find in the car after that is too damn bad. No way to prove beyond a reasonable that something that small was not left there by the previous guest in the car. If the cops are unable or unwilling to search their collar as per procedure, what makes anybody think they are able to properly search and clean their own car?
Indeed it's unfortunate to have another mayor fall under such dubious circumstances but this case sounds a little anemic to me.
