DUI plea may yield new charge

BY MICHAEL J. RUDOLF

A Friendsville man may be charged with driving under the influence after appearing to be drunk Friday while appearing in court to plead guilty to a previous DUI charge.

Edward D. Miner, 49, was not represented by an attorney when he appeared before President Judge Russell Shurtleff in the Wyoming County Court of Common Pleas. He was accused of driving drunk when stopped by police in Meshoppen Township on March 20.

Shurtleff asked Miner a list of standard questions, including whether he was currently under the influence of drugs or alcohol.

Miner said he was not.

Shurtleff accepted Miner’s plea, and told him the range of sentences he could face, from 90 days to five years in jail, and a fine of $1,500 to $10,000. The sentence would be imposed at a later date, the judge said.

As is standard practice, Miner was instructed to meet with the county probation department immediately after entering his plea.

He left the courtroom with probation officer Jerome Tonti, and Shurtleff continued with the rest of the docket.

A few minutes later, Tonti escorted Miner back into the courtroom, and informed Shurtleff that there was a problem.

Tonti said to him it appeared Miner was under the influence of alcohol.

Shurtleff asked another probation officer, William Colbenson, to bring a portable breathalyzer into the courtroom. Colbenson administered the test, which showed Miner had a blood alcohol level of .142 percent.

Shurtleff asked Miner if he wished to change his previous statement that he was not under the influence.

“No, sir. I don’t believe I am,” Miner said.

Tonti said Miner had told him that he had been drinking the night before, in spite of the bail condition prohibiting him from consuming alcohol.

Miner confirmed this when asked by Shurtleff.

“I did have two beers last night,” he told the judge.

Shurtleff ordered that the $5,000 bail Miner had been out on be rescinded, and set new bail at $15,000.

He also nullified Miner’s earlier guilty plea.

As Miner was escorted to jail by a sheriff’s deputy, Shurtleff asked the probation officers to contact Tunkhannock Borough Police, because Miner had driven himself to the courthouse.

Borough police officer Dustin Cokely said additional charges could be forthcoming after the evidence is supplied to a crime lab.