NEWS ARTICLE REVIEW: CRIMINAL LAW ASSIGNMENT
This News Article Review is about a May 30, 2022 article entitled Pelosi’s Husband
Charged With DUI, by Diane Ruggiero & Lauren Fox of CNN News, available online at
https://www.cnn.com/2022/05/29/politics/paul-pelosi-arrested-dui/index.html (last visited
5/30/22 at 950pm). According to the article, on May 28, 2022, in Napa County, California, 82-
year old Paul Pelosi (Pelosi), the longtime husband of Nancy Pelosi, a liberal California
Democrat and the current Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives,
“was arrested at 11:44 p.m. PT and charged with driving under the influence and
driving with a blood alcohol content of 0.08% or higher…Both charges are
misdemeanors. ***Pelosi was attempting to cross SR-29 when his 2021 Porsche
was hit by a 2014 Jeep traveling northbound on the road, according to a collision
report from the California Highway Patrol, which doesn't identify either driver as
being at fault in the crash. ***There were no injuries reported in the crash and the
Jeep's driver was not arrested….Bail was set at $5,000…and records indicate
Pelosi was released Sunday morning.” Id, (asterisks and ellipses supplied).
The article creates reasonable factual inferences that, upon the troopers investigating the crash,
they observed Pelosi (who was in plain view on California public roads) to have symptoms of
alcohol intoxication immediately after the crash, thus indicating a reasonable suspicion and
probable cause that he was driving under the influence (DUI) of alcohol at the time of the crash.
The DUI charge and charge of driving with a blood alcohol content (BAC) level at or above
0.08% creates a reasonable inference they did a BAC test on him, a test which can be compelled
because a state can constitutionally force a person suspected of driving while intoxicated to
submit to a BAC test without violating their Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination,
Schmerber v. California, 384 U.S. 757 (1966); South Dakota v. Neville, 459 U.S. 553, 554
(1983), and that such test showed his BAC level was at or above 0.08%.
Pelosi was likely charged with violating California Vehicle Code §23152(a), which
prohibits driving while under the influence of alcohol, and §21352(b), which prohibits driving
with a BAC level at or above 0.08%. See Cal. Veh. Code §23152(a) & (b). Both offenses are
misdemeanors. People v. Doyle, 220 Cal. App. 4th 1251, 1257, 164 Cal. Rptr. 3d 86, 90 (Cal.
App. 3d Dist. 2013). Both require showing he was driving. The §23152(b) offense requires an
additional showing of driving with a BAC level at or above 0.08%, while §23152(a) requires a
showing he drove “under the influence” of alcohol, meaning it “impair[ed] to an appreciable
degree [his] ability to operate a vehicle in a manner like that of an ordinarily prudent and
cautious person in full possession of his faculties.” People v. Enriquez, 42 Cal. App. 4th 661,
665, 49 Cal. Rptr. 2d 710, 712 (Cal. App. 6th Dist. 1996). Such things can all be proven by the
crash, trooper testimony that Pelosi appeared intoxicated right after the crash, and BAC test
results. That the other driver was not charged suggests the crash’s cause was Pelosi’s impaired
driving. Indeed, a driver seeking to cross a road “must stop and yield the right of way to any
approaching vehicle thereon which constitutes an immediate hazard.” Roy v. Mission Taxi Co.,
219 P.2d 840, 845 (Cal. App. 1950). That the crash occurred when Pelosi tried to cross a road
shows he was at fault and did not yield the right of way to a vehicle on such road, and, with the
BAC level, creates an inference his driving was impaired to where he could not properly assess
the speed and distance of an oncoming vehicle so as to avoid a crash.
In my opinion, while the article reflects CNN has bias favoring Mr. Pelosi, 1 it accurately
describes some facts of the incident, and, when combined with reasonable inferences deducible
therefrom, it is my opinion Pelosi is guilty of both charges. It appears he may go to jail because a
§23152(b) conviction precludes probation and apparently requires jail time. People v. Eribarne,
124 Cal. App. 4th 1463, 1468, 22 Cal. Rptr. 3d 417, 421 (Cal. App. 5th Dist. 2004).
This incident is a reminder to adhere to God’s commands to “be alert and of sober mind,”
1 Peter 4:7, and “be sober in all things.” 2 Timothy 4:5 (Berean Study Bible). If Pelosi valued
such commands, he would not get drunk and would not drive under the influence of alcohol.
1 Specifically, this CNN article says that while he “was attempting to cross” a road, his vehicle “was hit.” The
phrase “was hit” is passive language, or passive voice, not active voice, and its use shows bias favoring Mr. Pelosi
by indicating that something happened to him, and was done by someone else, rather than that he did something.
However, he was crossing a road and in doing so he hit another vehicle (which had the right of way on such road).
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