Posted on 08/07/2024 7:46:36 PM PDT by NetAddicted
Walz had a blood alcohol concentration of .128 at the time of the incident, according to a court transcript.
Gov. Tim Walz has said in past campaigns that he wasn’t actually drunk when he was pulled over for driving under the influence in 1995, but a court transcript from the case tells a different story.
Walz was working as a teacher in Alliance, Neb., his home state, when he was pulled over Sept. 23, 1995 for going 96 mph in a 55-mph zone.
“A strong odor of alcoholic beverage was detected emitting from Mr. Walz[‘s] breath and person,” says a Nebraska state trooper’s report on the incident.
Walz submitted to and failed both a field sobriety test and a preliminary breath test, according to the report. He was then transported to Chadron Hospital for a blood test before being booked into the Dawes County Jail.
He was initially charged with driving under the influence and speeding, but the charges were reduced to a lone count of reckless driving under the terms of a plea deal.
The issue emerged during Walz’s successful 2006 campaign for Congress in Minnesota’s First District. In one of the few available articles on the incident, Walz’s campaign manager told the Rochester Post Bulletin he was “not drunk” and “attributed the misunderstanding to Walz’s deafness,” an issue Walz said was caused by his time in the National Guard that has since been “surgically corrected.”
“He couldn’t understand what the officer was saying to him,” Walz’s campaign manager said at the time, noting his deafness caused “balance issues.” Neither the trooper’s report nor the court transcript reference the governor’s hearing issues.
The results of the blood test were later suppressed, seemingly as a result of the trooper’s failure to realize Walz was deaf, according to the Post Bulletin article. This means the results wouldn’t have been used as evidence against Walz had the case gone to trial, but they were still referenced during a March 13, 1996 hearing on the plea agreement.
During that hearing, former Dawes County Attorney Rex Nowlan said that Walz had a blood alcohol concentration of .128 at the time of the incident.
“Mr. Walz was driving south of town on 385 in Dawes County at a high rate of speed. Actually, he was driving away from the police officer. I think that he eventually hit a speed of over 80, as I recall. When he was stopped, he was given a blood test which did show a .128 blood alcohol,” Nowlan said, according to a court transcript.
Walz’s attorney, Russell Harford, later acknowledged that Walz “had been drinking” but said he was driving away from the state trooper because he “thought somebody was chasing him.”
“The state patrol officer turned around and, this is a little, a little bit bizarre, but Mr. Walz thought somebody was chasing him. The officer didn’t turn on his red lights and he — and somebody came up real fast behind him and he didn’t know what they were doing, so he sped up to try to get away, fearing that somebody was after him,” Harford said.
“Low and behold, it was a state patrolman that was behind him, so the faster he went, the faster the state patrol officer went. Finally, he did turn on his red lights. The speed was fairly excessive, judge, a lot over the speed limit. I don’t even know what was alleged in the complaint, it may have been 90 something. Mr. Walz had been — had been drinking, so I think there’s a sufficient factual basis, judge, to support the plea,” he continued.
Harford further admitted that Walz had “a .128” but described this as a “relatively low test.” At the time, the legal limit in Nebraska was .10 but, like all states, has since been lowered to .08.
According to the American Addiction Centers, a BAC of .10 or higher results in reduced reaction time and control, slurred speech, slower thinking and reasoning, and an inability to coordinate arms and legs. The University of Notre Dame says this level of intoxication can cause “significant impairment of motor coordination and loss of good judgment.”
For reference, Hennepin County Sheriff Dave Hutchinson allegedly had a BAC of .13 when he totaled his county-issued vehicle late last year.
Walz’s attorney went on to say that the governor felt so bad about the incident that he offered to resign his teaching position at Alliance High School and all of his extracurricular activities.
“He, I think, takes the position that he’s a role model for the students there. He let them down, he let himself down. Because of that, he was ready to resign his position. Fortunately, the principal talked him out of resigning from [the] school. He did, in fact, though resign from his extracurricular activities,” Harford said.
The judge then asked Walz why it is against the law to “drive with a .128 blood alcohol content.”
“Not just statutory, it’s just a dangerous situation, Your Honor, not just to myself, but to others who are — who aren’t even involved with it,” Walz replied.
At some point later that year, Walz left Nebraska to start a new life in Mankato, Minn., where he began “teaching and coaching” at Mankato West High School, according to his campaign website.
It’s not uncommon for past drunk-driving offenses to emerge on the campaign trail. In fact, in the 2010 gubernatorial contest, Alliance for a Better Minnesota ran ads against Republican Tom Emmer for two past DUI charges. Emmer lost that race to Democrat Mark Dayton by less than half a percentage point, ushering in 12 years of DFL control.
The Alliance for a Better Minnesota ad featured a mother whose son was killed by a drunk driver.
“And then I read that Tom Emmer has been arrested twice himself for drunk driving … And this man wants to be governor? Minnesota needs a governor who’s on our side — and that’s just not Tom Emmer,” the ad said.
The governor’s office was provided with a copy of the transcript but did not respond to three requests for comment over four days.
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Minnesota, and the nation, react to Tim Walz: ‘This guy has been a train wreck’
He’s no Thomas Eagleton. Still there’s no excuse for us not piling on. Where’s Lee Atwater when you need him?
Train wreck and a republic wrecking kind of guy in a power position to facilitate it.
“so the faster he went, the faster the state patrol officer went. “
We believe you Mr, Walz, this is how it happened:
While riding in my Cadillac
What to my surprise
A little Nash Rambler was following me
About one third my size
The guy must’ve wanted to pass me up
As he kept on tooting his horn
I’ll show him that a Cadillac is not a car to scorn
Beep, beep, beep, beep
His horn went beep, beep, beep
I pushed my foot down to the floor
To give the guy the shake
But the little Nash Rambler stayed right behind
He still had on his brake
He must have thought his car had more guts
As he kept on tooting his horn
I’ll show him that a Cadillac is not a car to scorn
Beep, beep, beep, beep!
His horn went beep, beep, beep
My car went into passing gear
And we took off with gust
Soon we were doing 90
Must’ve left him in the dust
When I peeked in the mirror of my car
I couldn’t believe my eyes
The little Nash Rambler was right behind
I think that guy could fly
Beep, beep, beep, beep
His horn went beep, beep, beep
Now, we’re doing a hundred and ten
This certainly was a race
For a Rambler to pass, a Caddy
Would be a big disgrace
The guy must’ve wanted to pass me up
As he kept on tooting his horn
I’ll show him that a Cadillac is not a car to scorn
Beep, beep, beep, beep
His horn went beep, beep, beep
Now, we’re doing a hundred and twenty
As fast as I could go
The Rambler pulled alongside of me
As if we were going slow
The fellow rolled down his window
And yelled for me to hear
“Hey, Buddy, how can I get this car
Out of second gear!”
Nice rendition!
“2007 Video of Tim Walz Makes Rounds on Internet: “I Deployed in Support of Operation Enduring Freedom” – A COMPLETE LIE #StolenValor”
The more I find out about this jackass, the more I dislike him, and that is getting hard to do.
I would have marginally more respect for him if he said "Yes. I was intoxicated at the time. It was a terrible and irresponsible thing to have done, and I am grateful I didn't kill or injure anyone. I learned my lesson from it."
But he didn't. Boy, does that grate on me he used his military service as an excuse. If I hear of a vet with PTSD who drove drunk, I am inclined to be sympathetic, and hope he figures things out.
With someone like Walz, it is nothing of the sort.
We definitely miss Lee Atwater. He had balls!!
LOL
Beep Beep by the Playmates. 1958.
Only song to rival Hot Rod Lincoln by Commander Cody and the Lost Planet Airmen (local Michigan group that made it nationally).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MBUfNxfc2w4
I’m glad you remembered Atwater. Do you recall that GHWB did not go to Atwater’s funeral; went sailing instead?
Always loved Hot Rod Lincoln!
Is it too late for the Dems to dump him?
I can’t believe Walz was able to get a plea deal to ignore a DUI. Because he said he was deaf from combat? He never served in combat. Who fixed his record for him?
So much for holding fire until seeing the whites of their eyes...
BFL
Hot Rod race-Jimmie Dolan
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OZE5TUAX-ok
Hot Rod Race-Arkie Shibley
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CJdrNVTXIz0
Hot Rod Lincoln-Charley Ryan
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e58NJU5B3v8
Hot Rod Lincoln-Johnny Bond
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QZ5CfnjcKeI
At the time in Nebraska— he was in weekend warrior National Guard? What unit then vs. the one he said he became Command Sergeant Major (which was an artillery battalion NG).
In Nebraska he wasnt’ firing artillery such that he would “go deaf”. And if he did “go deaf” he would not have been able to stay in the National Guard. None of this rings true— except the lie he told his atty to plea him out of criminal intoxication and driving. Nowadays he blows a .12 and he is going straight to jail. He understood the trooper perfectly. Another flatfoot criminal attorney got him off.
96 in a 55 zone in Arkansas gets troopers stopping you with a PIT maneuver- if you don’t pull over.
The Nebraska State Trooper’s report (PDF):
https://alphanews.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/WalzOfficerReport-3.pdf
Was he still in the Guard at the time? I’ve never heard of anyone in the military getting a DUI who didn’t also suffer consequences in their military career.
Had he been in AZ he would have been locked up for a short time.
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