Iowa Chief Justice Says She Slept Through Son's Beer Party
Iowa Chief Justice Marsha Ternus says she wasn’t aware that her teenage son was drinking outside with friends on the night her husband was charged with disobeying a deputy who came to investigate.
Ternus’ husband, Dennis Drake, general counsel for Iowa Health System, entered an Alford plea on Tuesday to a misdemeanor charge of harassing a public official, the Des Moines Register reports. The plea does not admit wrongdoing but acknowledges a likely finding of guilt if the case proceeds. The Globe Gazette and the Waterloo Cedar-Falls Courier also had stories.
Seven teens on the property were charged with underage alcohol possession; all but two of the cases were dropped. The couple’s son, 19-year-old Rob Drake, was convicted, the Des Moines Register says. Media reports at the time of the incident said Dennis Drake was accused of arguing with a deputy over whether he had to remain outside while police questioned the teens, who were out by a bonfire on the 29-acre property.
The Register and Courier published this statement by Ternus: “There have been questions concerning my whereabouts on the evening in question. The reality is that I was asleep in our house. Unknown to me, a group of college students that included our son had gathered nearly a half-mile from our house where they had started a bonfire. I had no knowledge my son and his friends were on our property that night, or that they were drinking, until after the Polk County sheriff deputy had arrived.”
Hat tip to How Appealing.
