Ex-Judge Spends Night in Jail in Reckless-Driving Case
A former Michigan judge who was removed from the bench in a June 2008 state supreme court opinion (PDF) spent a night in jail over the weekend after a reckless driving arrest before being freed on $5,000 bond.
After initially being arrested Saturday on suspicion of drunken driving, Beverly Nettles-Nickerson was charged with reckless driving and resisting arrest, according to the Lansing State Journal and WLNS-TV 6.
But she was not charged with drunken driving, the LSJ article says, and one of her lawyers says she had not been drinking. Further, Meridian Township police never gave her even a field sobriety test, even though Nettles-Nickerson requested a breath test, says attorney Andrew Abood. The police “arrested her for drunk driving without doing a single, standard procedure in regards to a drunk-driving arrest.”
Officials at the Meridian Township police department refused the newspaper’s requests for comment on the case.
“We know that people are going to jump to conclusions and presume things, and I’m sure people were doing that last night when people were saying that she was charged and arrested for operating while intoxicated,” says another attorney Mike Nichols, who also represents Nettles-Nickerson. However, “we know that that wasn’t the case,” he tells WLNS.
An earlier drunken-driving case against Nettles-Nickerson was dismissed last year after the court determined that there was no probable cause to arrest her since she was not operating a motor vehicle, the Lansing State Journal reported at the time.
Earlier coverage:
ABAJournal.com: “Mich. Judge Lied Under Oath, Should Be Dismissed, Panel Says”
Michigan Citizen: “Black Women Judges under court attack”
Lansing State Journal: “Ingham County Judge removed from bench–Nettles-Nickerson ordered to pay $12,000 toward costs of case”
