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The old "Do as I say, not as I do" message from our government masters.
Arizona House official pleaded guilty in DUI case Jun. 21, 2011 11:38 AM Associated Press The Arizona House's top staff official pleaded guilty last year to extreme DUI after being arrested in April 2010. Current and former House speakers did not immediately respond to inquiries Tuesday about the recently reported April 2010 arrest of Chief of Staff Victor Riches. Court records say Riches pleaded guilty in Phoenix Municipal Court to one count of first offense extreme DUI with a blood alcohol concentration of .20 or more. Three other DUI charges were dismissed under a plea agreement. He was sentenced to 45 days in jail, He served 48 hours in jail, 13 days on work-release from jail and 30 days of home arrest. Riches' case was reported Monday evening by the Arizona Guardian and previously by another online site, az-Independent.com.
More on the "Do as I say, not as I do" message from our politicians. Arizona House leaders stands by aide in DUI case by Mary Jo Pitzl - Jun. 22, 2011 12:00 AM The Arizona Republic The current and former leaders of the Arizona House of Representatives are standing by their chief of staff, who last year was convicted of extreme drunken driving. The leaders said they knew of Victor Riches' legal troubles last year and were impressed by his candor in admitting his error. Riches was arrested late on a Saturday in April 2010 after a Phoenix police officer noticed his car speeding and straying into a bicycle lane. He ultimately was charged with extreme DUI after registering a blood-alcohol content of 0.253 percent, more than three times the legal limit. Police also found two vials of cocaine on the floor of his car, but they did not prosecute him for that. Kirk Adams, who at the time was speaker of the Arizona House and Riches' supervisor, said in an e-mailed statement Tuesday that Riches informed him of "the incident" at the time. "Based on his candor, solid performance before and after this incident and commitment to handling it appropriately and doing what was necessarily legally, I made the decision to keep him on staff," wrote Adams, a Mesa Republican running for Congress. His statement did not define what he meant by "the incident." Andy Tobin, who succeeded Adams in April, voiced similar confidence in Riches. In a statement, Tobin said Riches told him last fall about "this incident." "I've since ascertained that Victor has done everything that has been required to take both personal and legal responsibility for this mistake and that there has not been nor will there be any impact on House operations," Tobin said in the statement. Court records show Riches pleaded guilty to extreme DUI and served 15 days in jail, followed by 30 days on home detention. He was granted work release during his sentence. He also paid several thousand dollars in fines. Riches declined comment. House officials said they have no personnel records that would document the arrest. Legislative staffers serve at the will of the speaker of the House or Senate president and are not subject to personnel rules that govern state workers. Phoenix police said they didn't press for charges on the cocaine because they couldn't establish Riches had possession. The cocaine was not found on his person, Riches denied it belonged to him and the car was owned by a leasing company, Sgt. Trent Crump said. "If a car is in your name, you're going to have to explain more what's in your car and why it's there," Crump said. He said no political influence was exerted on the Police Department.
Jun. 21, 2011 7:04 PM ET Ariz. House speaker stands by aide in DUI case PAUL DAVENPORTPAUL DAVENPORT, Associated Press THE ASSOCIATED PRESS STATEMENT OF NEWS VALUES AND PRINCIPLES PHOENIX (AP) — Arizona House Speaker Andy Tobin says he retains "complete confidence" in the chamber's chief of staff despite a 2010 extreme DUI conviction and the discovery of cocaine in the car driven by the aide. Victor Riches pleaded guilty to extreme DUI but was not prosecuted for cocaine that police said they found in the leased car driven by Riches when he was arrested in April 2010. Tobin says that Riches told him about the incident last year when Tobin was majority whip. Tobin also says he was confident in then-Speaker Kirk Adams' ability to deal with the situation and that Riches took full responsibility for what Tobin called "his mistake." Phoenix police said officers didn't believe they could prove Riches possessed the cocaine found in two bottles. THIS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below. Cocaine was found in a car driven by the Arizona House chief of staff when he was arrested for driving under the influence of alcohol at more than three times the state's legal limit, police said Tuesday. Victor Riches, 39, was arrested early April 18, 2010, after being pulled over shortly before midnight and subsequently failing a blood test. Riches pleaded guilty to one count of extreme DUI in a plea agreement that led to dismissal of three other DUI charges. But Riches did not face prosecution for cocaine that police reported finding in two small bottles of a "white powdery rocky substance" under or near the driver's seat of the leased car that Riches was driving. A police spokesman said a lab test later determined that substance was cocaine but that officers concluded they couldn't prove possession of the cocaine by Riches. Riches denied the drug was his and Sgt. Trent Crump said other factors were that the car was not owned by Riches and that nobody saw Riches with the drug. The officers involved did not know Riches was a political figure, Crump said. Former House Speaker Kirk Adams, who was speaker all of last year, said in a brief statement emailed to The Associated Press that he knew of Riches' arrest. "Victor came forward last year about this incident and was honest about it. Based on his candor, solid performance before and after this incident and commitment to handling it appropriately and doing what was necessarily legal, I made the decision to keep him on staff," Adams said. Adams did not immediately reply when subsequently asked via email and voicemail whether he knew that cocaine was found in the car. Current House Speaker Andy Tobin, R-Paulden, did not immediately respond to a request for comment, but spokesman Daniel Scarpinato said Riches remained on the House staff. Court records say Riches pleaded guilty in Phoenix Municipal Court to one count of first offense extreme DUI with a blood alcohol concentration of 0.20 or more. Three other DUI charges were dismissed under a plea agreement, court records state. A Phoenix Police Department report said Riches' BAC was 0.25 — more than three times Arizona's legal limit of 0.08. Riches was sentenced to 45 days in jail, and a court record said he surrendered on Aug. 28 and served 48 hours in jail, followed by 13 days on work-release from jail and 30 days of home arrest. Riches' case was reported last week by an online site, az-Independent.com, and Monday evening by the Arizona Guardian. Riches is a veteran legislative aide who has held top staff posts under Republican leaders in both the House and Senate. Tobin became speaker in April when Adams resigned to run for Congress. Associated Press |