Posted on 05/11/2007 1:04:21 PM PDT by SmithL
MURFREESBORO, Tenn. — A court hearing for state Sen. Jerry Cooper, who is facing charges of driving under the influence, was postponed today for 12 weeks.
Cooper's lawyer, Jack Mitchell, said the lawmaker could not appear in court today because he had a doctor's appointment related to injuries from the wreck that led to drunken driving and speeding charges.
Rutherford County General Sessions Judge David Lowery rescheduled the preliminary hearing for Aug. 3.
"Senator Cooper is undergoing medical treatment today," Mitchell said. "He is still in a certain amount of pain."
Cooper was critically injured in a car crash on Feb. 7 when his sport utility vehicle overturned several times on Interstate 24 in Rutherford County. He underwent surgery last week for injuries related to the crash. He has not appeared at the Capitol since his surgery.
Cooper's accident came after he attended three legislative receptions in Nashville. He was charged with drunken driving and surrendered on a warrant that showed his blood-alcohol level was 0.18 percent. Tennessee law defines drunken driving as a blood alcohol level of 0.08 percent.
Following the accident, Cooper had his federal land fraud trial in Chattanooga delayed until June. Cooper has pleaded not guilty to charges of bank fraud, mail fraud and conspiracy to commit bank and mail fraud.
Cooper is accused of using a fraudulent appraisal and political influence to help an Alabama businessman borrow $1.7 million for the 1999 purchase of Cooper's lumber mill in Warren County.
August 3rd? That should make it convenient to get another Dr. appointment for that day also so they can drag this out for a few years. Should have said OK, we will reschedule for next Tuesday morning and postpone some minor incident until Aug 3.
You can always tell its a Democrat when a newspaper writes an article, but fails to put a D or R by the name. See if if a Republican, then you can guarantee they will keep reminding everyone that its a Republican. However, when its a Democrat there is no mention of this. More proof of bias.
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