Adam Clayton Powell IV On Trial: Amy Winehouse is Referenced?
In court hearings today, prosecutors alleged that East Harlem Assemblyman Adam Clayton Powell IV was indeed intoxicated the night of March 6, 2008, when he was pulled over by police for drunk driving.
The Harlem politician, 47, son of the famed Congressman, was pulled over for weaving back and forth through the northbound middle lane of the Henry Hudson Highway after a night of drinking, which Powell admitted to police officers.
At the time, Powell passed a breathalyzer test and roadside sobriety and coordination test, which his lawyers say he passed easily. His blood alcohol level was recorded at .072 (.08 is the legal limit.)
Prosecutors claimed in court that cops said the breathalyzer equipment wasn't calibrated properly the first time, and that he didn't breathe hard enough into the breathalyzer for it to work properly. Police requested Powell take a second, more formal test down at the 28th precinct, but he refused. So, they charged him with drunk driving anyway, and now he also faces a criminal violation for refusing to take a second breathalyzer test.
A judge denied Powell's request for dismissal of the trial yesterday, and hearings this morning have been full of fun, including pop-culture references to other partygoing lushes like Mick Jagger and Amy Winehouse.
We'll keep you posted on the outcome.
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