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Mona Shield Payne / Special to the Sun
Former Boulder City Councilwoman Karla Burton makes an appearance before Justice of the Peace Nancy Oesterle on Tuesday afternoon in connection with her arrest Feb. 6, 2007, on a charge of drunken driving. Burton failed a breathalyzer Tuesday and was taken into custody.
Tuesday, Sept. 29, 2009 | 4:22 p.m.
Sun Archives
- DUI trial for former councilwoman postponed a fifth time (6-3-09)
- DUI trial for ex-BC councilwoman set for June (1-28-2009)
- Former councilwoman’s trial to be again delayed (11-18-2008)
- Burton’s DUI trial postponed again (9-16-2008)
Former Boulder City Councilwoman Karla Burton, who was arrested on driving under the influence charges in 2007, was booked into the Clark County Detention Center today after she failed a blood alcohol test in Justice Court.
Burton tested 0.115 on a blood alcohol test before Justice of the Peace Nancy Oesterle, who ordered her to serve 25 days in the county jail before appearing again Oct. 27.
Burton agreed in August to enter Clark County’s Moderate Offender Program, which involves intense supervision and counseling for a year in exchange for reduced charges once the program is completed.
She pleaded guilty Sept. 16 to driving under the influence before Justice of the Peace William Jansen and made her first appearance today before Oesterle for DUI Specialty Court.
She stood before Oesterle with attorneys John Watkins and Jack Howard at her side while taking a Breathalyzer test. It took several attempts to get the result, after which Oesterle consulted with her attorneys at the bench.
“You weren’t driving today, were you?” Oesterle asked Burton, who said she had not driven before drinking.
“Do you realize there is a Do Not Drink clause in your contract?” Oesterle asked. When Burton said she wasn’t sure, Oesterle began to read from the contract Burton had signed, noting it was signed Aug. 13.
In addition to the 25 days in jail, Oesterle gave Burton a six-month suspended sentence. If the former councilwoman fails to complete the yearlong program, she will have to serve the entire time, Oesterle said.
Burton’s case had been delayed five times since her arrest Feb. 6, 2007, at a gas station on Nevada Highway in Boulder City. Her blood alcohol level was 0.274, more than three times the legal limit. She was a councilwoman at the time of her arrest but lost her re-election bid four months later.
Because of the high reading, Boulder City Police Chief Thomas Finn had asked the district attorney’s office not to accept a deal that reduced the charge. City prosecutor Gary Booker recommended the Moderate Offender Program, which he helped launch while in the district attorney’s office.
Chief Deputy District Attorney Bruce Nelson said an agreement was made to allow Burton to enter the Moderate Offender Program because of problems with the evidence and witnesses. If she completes the program, he said, the charge will be reduced to reckless driving.
In addition to the intensive court monitoring, the program requires the offender to admit being drunk and includes 90 days of house arrest with no alcohol allowed in the home, unannounced checks and one-on-one counseling. Oesterle said Burton would also be required to wear a SCRAM anklet, which tests for alcohol consumption.
Consequences for your actions...
Doesn't look like special treatment to me
what goes around comes around ------------karma
So the former city councilwoman, charged with DUI, with a BAC of over THREE times the legal limit, gets busted in DUI court, for showing up DRUNK and blows .115 in front of the judge, in the courtroom...hmmm, I'm starting to see a pattern here...
Now how about that. The Boulder City council has had 4 attorneys that I know elected to the council. One is in jail. Another was arrested for DUI, and is no longer on the council. Another is in trouble with the state bar (a real hard feat to do here in Nevada). This leaves one attorney council person left unscathed by scandal and possible corruption. What does that tell you about electing attorneys ?
How come Supreme Court justice Pickering was not checked for drugs or booze when she crashed through the store window?
Just wondering because you or I would have been given the breath test.
Nothing like throwing back a few shots & then going to court on a DUI charge. This lady needs some serious help.
This is straight Leno material.
Only in Vegas.
Resembles something you'd find at a casino ATM at 4am.
: )
What a joke and we wonder why do people drink and drive these days? Take off the gloves and hold these stupid people responsible. Stop making plea agreements and lock them up where they belong.
Who cares about why these people made the choice they have, they drink because they want too. Nobody held a gun to their head to drive, they made a choice. This is what is wrong with America today, it isn't their fault something or somebody else is at fault.
this is a SAD story. may she claw her way up from the bottom she has reached. now is the time, nowhere to go but up.
Darn. Coyote ugly.
she does look kind of relaxed, I did the same thing,once in my pajamas> That is my kind of lady, flunks the test in front of Judge Judy, and now, if she ever needs recovery, I will invite her and her shopping cart over to my place, she can sleep on the couch.
it would be rather funny, if it were not also rather sad...
very sad
she needs treatment ASAP B 4 she kills some innocent person......
Then she goes to Prison for a long time, while another family suffers from her killing a loved one or a child
I thought BC was a dry town?
There have been drunk drivers that have killed innocent people with fewer public consequences than this woman has had to endure. It is only because of her previous stance in the community that she has had to undergo such a media frenzy including constant judgment and criticism. I'm not condoning her choices, but not everyone's DUI matters are made this public. Stop and let the woman address her life and any related problems in privacy and with peace. Enough already.