Thursday, April 9, 2009

Three-wheeled justice? Judge orders DMV to reinstate Lokeman's license

Connected people with high priced lawyers don't need to face the consequences of their actions. That seems to be the lesson in the case of Rhonda Lokeman and her refusal to take a breath test after being arrested for DUI.

Justin Kendall reports Lokeman appeared in court April 3, and the judge ordered the DMV to reinstate Lokeman's driving privileges.

Let's look at the law. The penalty in Missouri for refusing a breath test is a one year suspension of driving privileges. The statute on refusing a breath test is here. The April 3 hearing was about the refusal, not the DUI charge.

Did the judge follow the law in this case? Here is the relevant part of Missouri's law:
At the hearing the court shall determine only:

(1) Whether or not the person was arrested or stopped;

(2) Whether or not the officer had:

(a) Reasonable grounds to believe that the person was driving a motor vehicle while in an intoxicated or drugged condition; or

(b) Reasonable grounds to believe that the person stopped, being under the age of twenty-one years, was driving a motor vehicle with a blood alcohol content of two-hundredths of one percent or more by weight; or

(c) Reasonable grounds to believe that the person stopped, being under the age of twenty-one years, was committing a violation of the traffic laws of the state, or political subdivision of the state, and such officer had reasonable grounds to believe, after making such stop, that the person had a blood alcohol content of two-hundredths of one percent or greater; and

(3) Whether or not the person refused to submit to the test.

5. If the court determines any issue not to be in the affirmative, the court shall order the director to reinstate the license or permit to drive.

So the court had to have found that at least one of the above issues was not affirmative.

Jeez. Lets take the issues one by one.

(1) Yes: officer tells Lokeman she is under arrest here.

(2) (a) Yes: she was driving on 3 tires, had no idea she was missing a tire, and had no idea there was significant damage under the carriage. Video here. Officers say they smelled alcohol on her breath after she started yelling at them. Video here. Plenty of reasonable evidence Lokeman was driving impaired.

(2) (b) not applicable since Lokeman is over 21

(2) (c) not applicable since Lokeman is over 21

(3) Yes, Lokeman refused: video here.

The video evidence is there. Looks to me like the judge followed a creative interpretation of the law instead of the plain meaning. If there is more to this, leave info in comments or email me.

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16 comments:

Anonymous said...

Already knew that was coming when she hired the scumbag lawyer she did and immediately got her own hand picked judge. I wonder what she cost?

Anonymous said...

Maybe John Edwards was right about Two Americas -- one for those with expensive lawyers and one the rest of us.

Anonymous said...

Oh my! The KC Star covered this up too?

Anonymous said...

Yeah...I am sure that the Star (Zieman) intervened.

I guess we will see when the Judge comes up for reelection on if the Star endorses them, but this is what happens when you hire an attorney.

My father in law has had 6 DUI's in the past and his attorney got him out of every one of them.

So as you can tell he is not well connected, just had the dough to get off.

Anonymous said...

If she hurts someone within the year by drinking and driving its on that P>O>S judge whom allowed this to happen.

John Altevogt said...

The whorehouse theory of law prevails once again.

John Altevogt said...

Incidentally, which POS was on the bench?

Anonymous said...

Today’s proceeding not yet recorded.
========
Missouri Case.net
0916-CV00241 (Last case # recorded)
Rhonda C. Lokeman
She requested a new judge, but the new judge is not named.

Go to ; https://www.courts.mo.gov/casenet/cases/header.do
Search Litigant name for all her entries.
Type in Rhonda C. Lokeman to follow her case.

Anonymous said...

The one she shopped for was Margaret Sauer.

John Altevogt said...

The KCMO traffic court is a joke. Don't hire a lawyer and the prosecutor won't even speak to you, but hire one off their list (and they have one) and the court is your oyster.

This is certainly not the most bizarre outcome of a judicial matter in this area. In both Kansas and Missouri the legal system is pathetic. I know moree about the Kansas courts, and they're corrupt from the Supremes on down.

Anonymous said...

Try the Chicago courts, they'll give the KC judges a run for their money.
(Pun intended)

Anonymous said...

If you remember the original post about Lokeman’s DUI, the little guys tried to get Mark the Snark off the hook saying he might not have known about the arrest. The videos show he came that night to bail her out. The rest was his damage cover-up, and if not for the blogs, no one would have known about Rhonda’s DUI adventure, and worse yet, she would be still writing her hate filled columns. Something good did come out of all this. The Scar reluctantly wrote a small bit, but I doubt we will see another line. I won’t for sure. I don’t waste my time with the Scar.

Anonymous said...

Rhobo Girl's career is in shambles, but I am not sure when to affix a date to the start of that condition, day one might be a good guess.

Anonymous said...

Rhonda’s videos are such a laugh, when you think of this haughty, sharp tongued, faux feminist, sitting in a paddy wagon, with two other arrested men, talking some strange language, it’s like the Twilight Zone. You have to see it to believe it.

Anonymous said...

Lokeman was probably the most offensive leftist writer at the KC Star, and that takes some doing, as the Star has so many. I am guessing Mr. & Mrs. Embarrassment will be leaving the city. You cannot go anywhere that the joke of her driving on her rim isn’t still worth a good laugh. Let’s just say a Star reporter does attend her hearings, the account would not remotely resemble the actual proceeding. The one thing you can count on from the Star is rejiggered reporting. Don’t count the bloggers out, they will write the facts that the reporters don’t seem to grasp.

John Altevogt said...

They knew what they were getting from "Judge" Sauer. This is not the first time she's caved on a DUI against a leading citizen for not taking a breathalyzer.

By Greg Orear
GateHouse News Service
Tue Jun 03, 2008, 05:16 PM CDT
KANSAS CITY, Mo. -

Driving under the influence charges have been dropped against a former A.T. Still University president.

Friday in a Kansas City municipal court, James McGovern pleaded guilty to a non-moving traffic violation after prosecutors dropped a DUI charge.

As part of his guilty plea, McGovern was fined $238, including court costs.

McGovern was arrested Nov. 28, 2007 in Kansas City after a traffic violation. The arresting officer conducted a field sobriety test, and after McGovern failed portions of that test, a Breathalyzer was administered. After repeated attempts, McGovern was unable to register a reading, which led to a Department of Revenue charge for refusing to take a Breathalyzer charge.

That charge was dismissed in May by District Judge Margaret Sauer.

After taking a medical leave of absence in February, McGovern later retired from ATSU, citing health concerns.

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