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By Conor Shine (contact) 
Tuesday, Feb. 26, 2013 | 2 a.m.
Clark County District Attorney Steve Wolfson’s announcement last week that Las Vegas Township Constable John Bonaventura would not face charges for driving under the influence after his Feb. 12 arrest provided a small bit of vindication for the embattled constable, who had maintained all along he was under the legal limit when arrested. But details in Wolfson’s statement and an arrest report raise questions about what happened the night a Nevada Highway Patrol officer pulled over Bonaventura in an official vehicle in a Walmart shopping center near Tropicana Avenue and McLeod Drive. One point of confusion is a second constable’s ...
You couldn't make this stuff up...
fiction has to have an element of believability.
Ol' Boss Hogg is an amazin' character.
"Forget science and just know that..."
Yeah, forget science! Just follow this crock of shtuff crooked, blow-hard lawyers and law makers come up with arbitrarily -- all without the help of lowly science.
The laws for them are different than the laws for us. Carry on citizen, nothing to see here. Ohhh wait, you see something? You can't do anything about it, carry on.
regardless of if he was .99 or .06, a public servant was driving a government-owned, tax-payer-paid-for vehicle with alcohol in his system. there should be a zero tolerance policy when it comes to government employees driving a government issued vehicle.
isnt he the judges son
this needs to go to court
unless this is the same group of prosecutors that let Paris Hilton off the hook for cocaine use and posession - and we know how that turned out
and didn't some assistant DA go on the lamb for his own cocaine use after he was arrested?
this guy Boneventura was drunk - he knows it, the police and state troopers know it, the DA knows it
i know it, you know it
send him to court and if he's found guilty then let him do his time and pay his fine - drunk is drunk
Just remember one thing when dealing will City Hall in Las Vegas...Stay away from City Hall in Las Vegas!
Mr. Wolfson office reeks of corruption.
"When he got out of his vehicle, Bonaventura continued to refuse to follow the trooper's instructions, the report said, prompting the trooper at one point to draw her Taser on the constable.
The trooper reported being fearful for her safety and that she felt "Bonaventura was trying to intimidate me with his status as an officer," the report said."
.................So this guy thinks he's above the law, and low and behold he is...
I don't understand why field sobriety tests are inadmissible in court. The problem with a test two hours later is that the alcohol in someone's system wears off, just like it did in this guys case.
In the future, I suppose the first thing the officer should have done was tazer this jerk, shove him in her car, and bring him down for a breathalyzer so she could have the burden of proof taken off of her shoulders and put on an in house breathalyzer test.
What a joke. I hope Wolfson doesn't mind losing his salary when he's not reelected next year.
Thanks Wolfson. Thanks for making Las Vegas a joke.
Isn't Steve Wolfson the same prosecutor who put his stamp of approval on police beating the hell out of a diabetic last year. Re-election is probably NOT in Wolfson's future.
If this was a citizen, they would be charged with something.
Even the act of turning on his lights, when not an emergency, when the NHP officer tried to pull him over should be grounds for some charge.
A Constable, on duty, should be:
"Held to a higher standard"
Typical prosecutor wording when any non-police person is arrested: teachers, etc.
isn't the constable related to Judge Bonaventure?
just noticed the names are spelled different
Why doesn't the DA just use the previously unmentioned "third DUI test" that mysteriously becomes available once the two tests that were previously the only ones accounted for in any police reports show the driver was below the legal limit.
You know like they've done in the past.
Not sure if .099 constitutes being "Hammered Drunk" but turning his own emergency lights on shows he is a KnuckleHead for sure
Some history here...
It says here in the article, the brothers spelled their name differently..
http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2001/aug...
Why did they wait until almost the entire 2 hours before administering the second test? And given that alcohol is metabolized by the system at a known rate if he blew .06x 1:45 after being stopped you can calculate what his alcohol content was at the time of his arrest.
Bonaventura and Wolfson are obviously crooked but Metro and NHP better start being more forthcoming or they risk being painted with the same dirty brush.
The reason that the readings in the field breath test is not admissible, at trial, is that the device doesn't have the reliability of the breathalyzer, in the station. That machine is calibrated & tested to ensure reliability. The field breath test & the the field sobriety tests and the observed driving, if any, are together used to determine whether there is PC to arrest. All these results are admissible, at a probable cause hearing, if the defendant challenges the arrest itself, but not at the trial on a DUI charges itself.
I can't wait for the next election to vote for a different prosecutor. Wolfson has run out of coupons.
I could be wrong but I've read when someone is pulled over for DUI they can refuse a breathalyzer and field sobriety test.
I would say Wolfson is a hack, but we are not allowed to name call. So I won't do it. He is waiting to get a job like DA Rodgers did. I have never scene such a transparent puppet. I hope the FBI investigates if they have not been compromised themselves.
Mr. Davis,
You are not completely wrong. You can refuse to take the field breathalyser but they can arrest you and take you in for the office one which you are required by law to take. They can also suspend your drivers license for refusing to take the field test. You can see an attorneys opinion on this here: http://www.shouselaw.com/nevada/dui/brea...
Give him a 36 hour notice and then give him a blood test.
Thank you, vegaslee. I am not really concerned about DUI since I do not drink. I am concerned about being pulled over by the "Barneys" for whatever and DUI being an added charge to stack tickets. Something I have heard is a common occurrence as abuse of limited power in Southern NV. I am not a wealthy man and real lawyers are expensive.
The trooper has tape and audio running on her car. I believe the tape can be released under freedom of information act.
So she pulls him over and HE gets out of his vehicle? Since when can you do that? Try that next time you get pulled over and see if you don't get tasered or worse, shot!
She should have tazered him.
Intimidation of an officer, and abuse of power.....never the less that whole driving while under the influence thing.
oldPSUguy (and others,)
There is no need to wait for the next election, Wolfson is subject to recall, even though he was appointed.
"NRS 306.020 Public officers subject to recall from office; contents of petition for recall.
1. Every public officer in the State of Nevada is subject to recall from office by the registered voters of the State or of the county, district or municipality that the public officer represents, as provided in this chapter and Section 9 of Article 2 of the Constitution of the State of Nevada. A public officer who is appointed to an elective office is subject to recall in the same manner as provided for an officer who is elected to that office." - http://www.leg.state.nv.us/NRS/NRS-306.h...
What an embarrassment. Another perfect example of why most of the country doesn't take Nevada seriously.
John Bonaventura is a loose cannon. But he was arrested because the trooper didn't like his attitude.
I agree with you VegasEngineer. The county and state are run by a bunch of yahoos(not the search engine or drink). I vote, I write, I call, I blog, but it doesn't do any good. IT is run by a bunch of educated red necks, scatch that, that is an insult to red necks. I guess idiots would be a good description. I regret as a parent of a young child moving here. There aren't any elected officials to him to look up to, no atheletes, a school dist run into the ground by greedy politicians. The list goes on and on.
There is a simple solution to find out the true story here. All NHP vehicles are equipped with cameras and microphones. Release the audio/visual from this incident and let's see what really transpired.