Incredible arrogance: These people are delusional -- but sometimes they do get their way.
Judge rejects lawmaker's immunity claim on DUI charge

Atlanta Journal-Constitution | September 27, 2005
By NANCY BADERTSCHER

A state lawmaker can break the law, a Cobb County judge ruled this morning.

Rep. David Graves (R-Macon) tried to use an obscure provision in the state constitution to argue that he should not be prosecuted for a DUI he received in Vinings in February, during the 2005 session of the General Assembly.

The centuries-old provision holds that a lawmaker cannot be arrested during sessions of the General Assembly, legislative committee meetings or while they're "in transit," except in cases of "treason, felony, or breach of the peace." Such provisions were generally written to protect lawmakers from political intimidation.

Today, Cobb State Court Judge Irma B. Glover denied Graves' request to use the "legislative immunity" defense. Graves' attorney, William C. "Bubba" Head, immediately filed a motion to appeal the decision to the Georgia Supreme Court.

Graves -- chairman of the House committee overseeing laws governing the alcohol industry -- has said that on Feb. 15, he and other committee chairmen went from the Capitol to a dinner meeting, where they conferred about the status of legislation and plans for the next legislative day. His lawyer argued that Graves should have been granted immunity from arrest because he was leaving a gathering that was tantamount to a committee meeting, according to legal filings.

Gary Jones, the assistant solicitor in Cobb State Court assigned to prosecute Graves, had argued against the defense.

"Just because you're having dinner with other politicians doesn't make it a committee meeting," Jones said in an interview. "They could be at a casino doing the same thing, and he could allege it was a committee meeting, even though they're gambling. Only in this case, they were drinking -- which to me is another indication it was not a committee meeting."

Glover agreed, ruling there was no evidence to support that the gathering was an official committee meeting.

"The fact that several legislators attended and that the defendant was wearing his legislative pin does not sanction the dinner as a session of the legislature or a meeting of any committee thereof," Glover wrote in her order.

Glover noted that Graves, who had refused an alcohol test at the scene, admitted to the arresting officer that he had consumed 2-4 drinks.

Graves was in the courthouse but did not appear before the judge or reporters. Head told Glover after her ruling: "I think this situation is so unique it needs to have an appellate court review."

Graves, 47, is actually awaiting trial on two DUI charges, one from March 2004, when authorities say he ran a red light, and the one from Feb. 15, which occurred at a police roadblock. So far he is claiming legislative immunity only in the latest case. If convicted on one or both charges, Graves faces possible fines, a short jail stint and perhaps the loss of his House committee chairmanship.

Georgia's legislative immunity provision has been part of its constitution since 1789. It's one of many across the country.

One of the early immunity laws, in Virginia, dates to a 17th-century incident in which the royal governor arrested a lawmaker to keep him from voting, according to the Norfolk Virginian-Pilot newspaper.

But in recent years legislators and staffers have tried to use immunity laws to defend themselves against nonpolitical charges. In 1996, a Virginia judge rejected a legislative aide's immunity claim and convicted her of drunken driving. And in 2002, courts rejected a Wisconsin senator's attempt to use the provision to shield himself from charges of illegally raising campaign contributions.

In 1985, then-state Attorney General Michael Bowers weighed in on the topic in Georgia, issuing a legal opinion that the provision in the constitution might give legislators immunity from physical arrest. But, he concluded, "There is no constitutional immunity for members of the General Assembly from prosecution for speeding violations or other violations of criminal law."

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