For Atlanta Braves pitcher Derek Lowe, winning is always nice. The victory he just secured last week was likely a bit sweeter than most.
That win occurred in Atlanta, but not on the pitching mound. Rather, the City of Atlanta dropped DUI and reckless driving charges against Lowe in a matter that first garnered wide media attention in late April, after Lowe was stopped by a patrol officer who stated that Lowe was speeding and smelled of alcohol.
Lowe failed a field sobriety test at the site, and also refused to take a breathalyzer test. Under Georgia's implied consent law, Lowe could have lost his license for refusing, had his case gone to trial.
We wrote about Lowe's arrest in a May 3 blog post. Lowe's case goes far toward establishing that a person must be deemed innocent until proven guilty, and that judgment needs to be withheld pending close and impartial examination of relevant facts.
For instance, the arresting officer said that Lowe was speeding and racing another vehicle on Peachtree Road. The officer's statement, however, identified the speeding vehicles as an Aston Martin and a Camaro. Lowe drives a Porsche. The Camaro was stopped by another officer, but the driver was never charged with any offense.
The trooper also stated that he "detected a strong odor of an alcoholic beverage" coming from Lowe, but Lowe flatly denied that he had been drinking at all prior to being stopped.
Lowe did plead no contest to making an improper lane change.
Related Resource: Atlanta Journal Constitution, "DUI, reckless-driving charges against Derek Lowe dropped" May 26, 2011
