A Wyoming state representative fighting a driving while under the influence of alcohol charge in Johnson County Wednesday learned he will still need to do random alcohol breath tests during the upcoming legislative budget session.
State Rep. Bill Allemand, R-Midwest, a member of the House Appropriations committee, and his attorney, R. Michael Vang of Laramie were both granted permission to appear by video in Buffalo Circuit Court by Judge Jeremy Kisling.
The case prosecutor, Johnson County Deputy Attorney Joshua Stensaas told the judge, I should be asking for a higher level of testing.”
He also said that the county treats every drunk driving arrest the same “if you’re in the legislature or waiting on tables.”
Vang filed a motion Jan. 21 asking for the court to either remove the alcohol testing condition of the bond entirely or at least suspend it from Feb. 8 through March. 22.
During the hearing, Vang reiterated his written motion arguing that the testing requirement for Allemand was unconstitutional and inappropriate due to Allemand’s lack of criminal history and his presumption of innocence.
If the court continued to make the requirement, Vang asked that the judge order that it be during a time that would not interfere with Allemand’s requirement to be on the House floor during the session.
However, Kisling noted that in 2019 the Wyoming legislature had allowed the more restrictive testing requirement in the pre-trial phase.
“The legislature makes a lot of laws that aren’t constitutional,” Vang said.
Stensaas argued that the laws cited by Vang from Washington State in his written argument were not applicable in Wyoming and that “nearly every other judge in the state looks at the constitutionality of this different than Mr. Vang.”
He said Vang’s request to either eliminate the testing requirement or just stop the testing between the dates the legislature is in session seemed to be polar opposite arguments if he believed the law was unconstitutional.
‘Safety Issue’
Looking at the Wyoming Rules of Criminal Procedures cited by Vang as well, Stensaas said that the rules emphasized public safety and mentioned it several times.
“Is drunk driving a safety issue? Yes,” he said.
Stensaas said the affidavit from the Johnson County deputy stated that two witnesses on I-25 called Allemand in because his vehicle “was going from rumble strip to rumble strip across the highway.”
He noted that when stopped, Allemand told the deputy that he had anxiety driving down the freeway.
“It will get better for him if he drinks while driving on the interstate,” Stensaas said.
Vang objected to Stensaas' use of the affidavit in the hearing, stating that he did not yet have discovery materials related to the case.
Kisling ruled that he understood Vang’s argument and would give the affidavit the “weight” that it deserved in the hearing and give him an ability to respond.
Stensaas said Allemand refused a drunk driving test and a warrant had to be obtained. He said a blood draw an hour and a half later showed Allemand at 0.24 blood alcohol content, three times the legal limit.
Vang objected and the judge said he was not taking the information as “gospel.”
Same Treatment For Everyone
Stensaas told the court that Allemand’s testing requirement was already at the lowest level.
Vang countered that if his client’s blood alcohol level was that severe “he should be in a coma.”
He restated that the random testing violates Allemand’s constitutional rights and noted that in courts he has practiced, defendants facing first time DUI charges do not have the random testing requirement. Kisling asked Vang if he had any knowledge of any prior criminal history for Allemand. He said there was a past issue in Kansas that was diverted out of the court for domestic battery.
The judge said that he was not going to make the test more difficult for Allemand, but he found testing to be appropriate. He told both Vang and Allemand that there were bond agencies in Casper that had portable breathalyzer machines that he could purchase or there was also a Laramie County program that would allow him to do it around the sessions.
“I fully expect him to be set up with that testing,” Kisling said.
The judge also said that it was “constitutional” to use the arrest affidavit as part of hearing evidence and decision.
Background
The charge against Allemand stems from a report from a fellow driver headed northbound on I-25 around noon on Dec. 28 who told authorities that Allemand’s blue Tacoma pickup “was all over the road hitting rumble strips, varying speeds, and the driver was described as a white male in his 60s,” an arrest affidavit states.
When a Johnson County Sheriff’s Deputy Caleb Campbell responded he saw the Tacoma exit the highway and enter Miller’s Travel Center on 74 East Highway 16 in Buffalo. Campbell wrote in his affidavit that Allemand almost caused an accident by initially starting to pull in front of a vehicle heading east on Highway 16, but Allemand slammed on his brakes.
Once parked in travel center, Allemand got out of the vehicle as the deputy lit his lights for a traffic stop but seemed to be unaware of the deputy at first, the affidavit states.
Allemand appeared unsteady on his feet, talked with slurred speech, and when asked if he had anything to drink, told Campbell he had two beers. The deputy found four other unopened cans of beer as well as a pistol on the front passenger seat.
Allemand has told Cowboy State Daily that the misdemeanor DUI charge is false and he intends to fight it.
“I am challenging them in court,” said Allemand of the charges. “Because this was wrong. I got a deputy who did not like me knowing my rights, and he pushed it to where if I would have kept my mouth shut, I would have never been arrested.
“But because I did speak out about my civil rights, I got arrested on a false charge. I will be proving that in court.”
The misdemeanor DUI charge Allemand faces is punishable by up to six months in jail and $750 in fines.
Dale Killingbeck can be reached at dale@cowboystatedaily.com.
