Ward 3 Councilor Don Davis.
[NOTE: This post updated after a conversation with Don Davis. See end of story.]
Three weeks to the day before Ward 3 voters are set to decide whether he should get another four years as Councilor, Don Davis' potentially embarrassing DWI trial was postponed yet again. A conviction no doubt would have been influential in determining the outcome of his candidacy. Davis is being challenged by former City Councilor and Union Country Freeholder Adrian Mapp.
The charges stem from an incident on the evening of March 28, 2007.
Davis has retained an attorney from the firm of Wilentz, Spitzer -- one of New Jersey's most politically juiced AND most expensive law firms. That fact alone has raised speculation that Davis' bills are being covered by other political players who may have an interest in seeing the Ward 3 seat held by a member of the Democratic party organization controlled by Assemblyman Jerry Green.
Proving the adage that 'you get what you pay for', one of the counts against Davis -- refusing a Breathalyzer test -- was dropped by Scotch Plains municipal court judge Antonio Inacio on March 12.
At issue were allegations that the defense did not receive all the information requested of the Plainfield Police. Plainfield's then-police chief, Edward Santiago, insisted that everything requested had been faxed to the Scotch Plains prosecutor. The matter has never been publicly settled.
As the Courier reports in today's edition (see here), no reason was ascertainable for the postponement as the prosecutor claimed not to know the reason and Davis' defense did not respond to a request for an explanation.
The trial, if it actually takes place, is scheduled for June 18, two weeks and one day after the fateful day of judgment by the voters.
UPDATE: 12:50 PM -- Just got off the phone from a long conversation with Councilor Don Davis, who advised that he, in fact, is paying his legal bills himself. I'm happy to pass that along.
Three weeks to the day before Ward 3 voters are set to decide whether he should get another four years as Councilor, Don Davis' potentially embarrassing DWI trial was postponed yet again. A conviction no doubt would have been influential in determining the outcome of his candidacy. Davis is being challenged by former City Councilor and Union Country Freeholder Adrian Mapp.
The charges stem from an incident on the evening of March 28, 2007.
Davis has retained an attorney from the firm of Wilentz, Spitzer -- one of New Jersey's most politically juiced AND most expensive law firms. That fact alone has raised speculation that Davis' bills are being covered by other political players who may have an interest in seeing the Ward 3 seat held by a member of the Democratic party organization controlled by Assemblyman Jerry Green.
Proving the adage that 'you get what you pay for', one of the counts against Davis -- refusing a Breathalyzer test -- was dropped by Scotch Plains municipal court judge Antonio Inacio on March 12.
At issue were allegations that the defense did not receive all the information requested of the Plainfield Police. Plainfield's then-police chief, Edward Santiago, insisted that everything requested had been faxed to the Scotch Plains prosecutor. The matter has never been publicly settled.
As the Courier reports in today's edition (see here), no reason was ascertainable for the postponement as the prosecutor claimed not to know the reason and Davis' defense did not respond to a request for an explanation.
The trial, if it actually takes place, is scheduled for June 18, two weeks and one day after the fateful day of judgment by the voters.
UPDATE: 12:50 PM -- Just got off the phone from a long conversation with Councilor Don Davis, who advised that he, in fact, is paying his legal bills himself. I'm happy to pass that along.
-- Dan Damon
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2 comments:
Glad he's paying his bills in this instance. What about the hundreds and hundreds of dollars he bills the city for when he goes out of town??
What was disappointing to me was that even though Mr. Davis has a pending DWI incident, which involves the police he voted to remove the police chief position. What he should have done was abstain from the vote. The counsel president who abstained because of his employment should have brought that fact up and advised Mr. Davis of such. Neither happened. Voters should remember that when voting also.
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