Philly Rep. Parker found guilty of DUI

STATE REP. Cherelle L. Parker was convicted Wednesday morning of driving under the influence and was sentenced to three days in county jail and suspension of her driver's license for a year.

Montgomery County Common Pleas Judge S. Gerald Corso made the ruling in Philadelphia Municipal Court.

Parker's attorney, Joseph Kelly, left the courtroom proclaiming Parker's innocence and pledging to appeal the ruling, which would set off a lengthy process that would keep the lawmaker out of jail until its conclusion.

Parker, 40, a Philadelphia Democrat who was supported in court by more than a dozen relatives and others, did not speak with reporters.

Corso also fined her $1,000 and ordered her to pay court costs and to attend alcohol-awareness and driver-safety classes. She'll be on parole for six months after her stay in jail.

Parker, who represents about 60,000 residents of communities including Mount Airy, Chestnut Hill, Roxborough and Andorra, was stopped by city police just after midnight April 30, 2011, while driving her state-issued Jeep Cherokee.

Officers Israel Miranda and Stephanie Allen testified during a September 2011 hearing that they stopped her because she was driving the wrong way on Haines Street in Germantown.

Officers said that her eyes were glassy, that she smelled of alcohol, that her speech was slowed and that she was unsteady on her feet.

Parker testified during the hearing that she had not driven the wrong way and was not drunk despite having had two beers and two chocolate martinis at Club Champagne, in Germantown.

In November 2011, Municipal Judge Charles Hayden ruled in Parker's favor and suppressed the officers' statements and all other state evidence, including a Breathalyzer test that showed Parker's blood-alcohol level was .16, twice the legal limit to drive.

The state Attorney General's Office - which is prosecuting the case in place of the city District Attorney's Office - appealed that ruling partly because Parker and Hayden are Facebook friends.

A higher court reversed Hayden's ruling last year, setting the stage for Wednesday's trial.

Parker's attorney said his appeal to state Superior Court would be based on the belief that Hayden got it right and questions about the calibration of the Breathalyzer used to test her.

Senior Deputy Attorney General John J. Flannery Jr. said there was no doubt that Parker was drunk and that she considered herself to be above the law.

"She was driving the wrong way on Haines Street," he said. "She had glassy, bloodshot eyes. She had a strong smell of alcohol on her breath. She was swerving side-to-side as she was coming down the street. That in and of itself is enough to convict somebody of driving under the influence. Then you couple that with the Breathalyzer results of .16, which is double the legal limit. That's about as guilty as you can possibly be."