BY LINDA BENTLEY | DECEMBER 22, 2010
Super extreme DUI with two priors is a felony
Nonetheless, Tabardillo, a Phoenix resident, drove himself to and from court on his suspended license
CAVE CREEK – Town Prosecutor Ken Holmes dismissed a super extreme DUI charge against David Jordan Palmer, 45, on Friday, not because his BAC of .22 and .23 didn’t qualify, but because Palmer had two prior DUIs within the past 84 months, which is a felony and required referral to the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office for prosecution.
Palmer, who was in custody and transported from the Fourth Avenue Jail for a pretrial conference, was not brought into the courtroom when Holmes realized the super extreme DUI would need to be prosecuted as a felony rather than a misdemeanor, which is beyond the limits of the town prosecutor’s jurisdiction.
Records indicate Palmer hit a power pole with his pickup truck at Cave Creek and Basin roads on Dec. 9 and then left the scene.
Palmer pled guilty in plea agreements to two previous DUIs, one in February 2006 and one in May 2007 at the McDowell Mountain Justice Court, whereas the court dismissed the higher level offenses of BAC levels greater than .08 in one case and .15, an extreme DUI, in the other.
Robert Davis pled responsible to an amended charge from driving on a suspended license to no Arizona license, which he had since obtained, and an open container charge, a class two misdemeanor.
When Cave Creek Municipal Court Judge George Preston inquired what the open container was, Davis replied, “Four Loko energy drink,” a caffeinated alcoholic beverage containing 12 percent alcohol.
Davis was fined a total of $395.
Landon Ash pled guilty to underage driving with alcohol in his system, a class one misdemeanor, in a plea agreement that dismissed the minor consuming alcohol charge.
Ash, 18, was fined $500 and ordered to attend alcohol screening classes.
Kevin Conrad, cited at the same time as Ash on a charge of underage person with alcohol in his system, was fined $270 and ordered to attend alcohol classes, told Preston they were drinking “at the lake.”
Jose Tabardillo entered into a plea agreement, pleading guilty to driving on a suspended license for failure to appear, with charges for speeding and no proof of insurance dismissed.
Tabardillo, 26, signed up for time payments for the $805 fine.
When Preston asked if he had his license reinstated, Tabardillo said he did not.
Apparently Tabardillo has had his license suspended numerous times since 2005 for failure to either appear or pay his fines.
Nonetheless, Tabardillo, a Phoenix resident, drove himself to and from court on his suspended license.
Raymundo Cruz, 36, signed a plea agreement, pleading guilty to being impaired to the slightest degree and was sentenced, as a first-time offender, to 10 days in jail, followed by 20 days of home confinement in exchange for dismissing the extreme DUI and other BAC charges.
Cruz will be required to pay fines exceeding $1,600 plus jail costs totaling approximately $865.
While his attorney told Preston the state had no problem with Cruz being on work release during his 10-day sentence, he requested Cruz be able to serve his sentence in March.
Preston said he was not willing to extend Cruz’s surrender date beyond the third week in January.
Records indicate Cruz was kicked out of Harold’s and asked to wait outside while someone called him a cab. Cruz did not want to wait outside for a taxi and proceeded to try to drive himself home.
That was when a Maricopa County Sheriff’s deputy observed Cruz hit the median as he pulled out of Harold’s. The report stated Cruz was unable to stay in one lane and hit the median again as he drove down Cave Creek Road.
Apparently Cruz turned on his left turn signal around the 7100 block of Cave Creek Road, attempted to make a U-turn where no U-turns are allowed and ran over the median.
