Sen. Chuck Graham-D arrested on suspicion of driving while intoxicated (Missouri)

COLUMBIA — Sen. Chuck Graham, D-Columbia, was arrested Saturday night on suspicion of driving while intoxicated after Columbia police said he rear-ended a vehicle in south Columbia.

At about 9:45 p.m. Saturday, Graham, 42, was driving on Green Meadows Road near his home when he rear-ended a vehicle stopped near the intersection of Green Meadows Road and Bethel Street, Columbia police Sgt. Lloyd Simons said. The vehicle Graham hit then hit a vehicle in front of it. The airbag in Graham’s vehicle deployed, and Graham was treated and released from University Hospital after complaining of pain in his arm, Simons said. The other drivers were not injured in the crash. Both of the vicims’ vehicles sustained minor damage, Simons said. Graham’s vehicle sustained moderate damage.

Ted Farnen, Graham’s spokesman, wrote in an e-mailed news release that police took Graham into custody while he was exchanging insurance information with the other drivers. When reached by phone on Sunday, he declined to elaborate on the incident.

Graham was left paralyzed from the neck down after he was injured in car accident when he was 16 years old, according to previous Missourian reports. Graham is serving his first term as state senator from the 19th district of Missouri, which includes Boone and Randolph counties. He previously served four terms in the Missouri House of Representatives. Graham earned a bachelor’s degree in journalism from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 1987.

Graham was released from the Boone County Jail on Sunday morning after posting $500 bond.

Driving while intoxicated is a class B misdemeanor on the first offense and carries a penalty of up to six months in jail.

It looks like his plan is (1) avoid conviction because of lack of
evidence, (2) get the automatic 1-year suspension, (3) take a silly
course, (4) pay $45 and get license back way before one year.
With his connections, I'm sure it won't be a big deal (unless the
voters remember in November).

As I said before, I'm no lawyer.
But you've stated my general speculation of Graham's actions.

BUT...maybe since a collision was involved, that bumps things
up. Perhaps that explains the more severe potential punishment
as listed in the last line of the lead article.

As for retribution at the polls...my naive guess is that is unlikely.

I've only been in Mid-Missouri a few years and the few times I've seen
Graham on TV he at least has the ability to act like a reasonable,
likeable person. Of course the Democratic Take-Back- The White House
plan is all about looking/acting sane before election 2008!

And I never had a clue that he had any sort of paralysis, but
that might be why I've only seen him in "shoulders-up" TV shots.
I suspect he won't have any problems with being re-elected:
he can get sympathy about his physical condition and this event
was "just a regretful indiscretion".

But of course, he might suffer from lack of "street cred" with
committed Democrats as his car didn't go into the water and
no attractive young females were drowned.

“Graham was left paralyzed from the neck down ......and Graham was treated and released from University Hospital after complaining of pain in his arm”

How can a guy who is a quad ‘complain’ of arm pain?

let’s see if he is forced to step down if convicted....this is a lot worse than was Larry Craig ever did...

Demoncrats never step down - that would require a full pledge exorcism. Any party that has the Orca from Massachusetts as a leader won't look on this as anything bad.

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