Ryan will serve time
Published: July 16, 2009
Updated: July 16, 2009
Culpeper Town Councilman Bobby Ryan has withdrawn his appeal of a DUI conviction and is expected to begin serving a 30-day jail term Friday.
During a brief hearing Wednesday morning, Circuit Court Judge F. Ward Harkrader Jr. accepted the motion to withdraw and denied a motion that would have delayed until August Ryan’s reporting date to jail.
Harkrader then remanded the case back to General District Court. Defense attorney T.C. Lea then informed Special Prosecutor Amy Harper a few minutes later that Ryan was choosing not to pursue the case and would report to jail this weekend.
Ryan, 64, was sentenced to 90 days in jail with 60 days suspended and will serve the time on weekends, in accordance with a plea deal in May. He must also pay $816 in fines and costs, will lose his license for three years, must serve one year on probation and must complete substance abuse classes.
Charged with DUI second offense, a misdemeanor, Ryan appealed his own plea about a week later. He was set to have a jury trial Wednesday and did not speak during the hearing. Ryan could not be reached for comment after court.
The DUI charge stems from an incident Feb. 26 in the town of Culpeper. An off-duty Virginia State Police special agent stopped Ryan on Sunset Lane after observing his car repeatedly drift over the center line.
In a warrant, the officer wrote that when he approached Ryan, the councilman “had slurred speech (and) a strong odor of alcohol” and that Ryan was too intoxicated to “understand the questions I was asking him.”
A separate court document indicates that Ryan’s blood alcohol level was 0.17, more than twice the legal limit. Ryan was held in jail overnight and released on $2,000 bond.
Lea told Harkrader that Ryan entered the appeal and needed the additional time to deal with health problems that required surgery.
However Harper argued that Ryan’s health issues hadn’t been brought to the court’s attention until after the original plea agreement had been reached. She also argued that adequate time had been allowed for Ryan to get his personal affairs in order and that further extensions were unnecessary.
In 2004, Ryan was convicted of DUI. He paid a $250 fine, $166 in court costs and lost his license for a year in that case.
Harper, an assistant commonwealth attorney for Spotsylvania County, was assigned to represent the state. Special prosecutors are usually appointed in cases where there is an actual or perceived conflict of interest.
A Culpeper native and lifelong area resident, Ryan was elected to Town Council in May 2008. He also served as a councilman from 1994 to 2002, including a stint as vice mayor during the final two years of his term.
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rjma…You are right on..However for taxes, etc. to be high enough to be prohibitive, or effective, to a large number of drinkers, and by drinkers I am not classifying those who enjoy a glass of wine or a beer on occasion, with hard core consumers of alcohol, they would have to be income shattering. I think you’re off target by saying that only a minority of drinkers have a problem..I believe there are more “closet” alcoholics in our midst than we can imagine. This is not to say that the majority of the population are alcoholics just that often we, who do not abuse alcohol, are unaware.
Rog- No, I don’t advocate anything like Prohibition. I’m not even sure that reduced overall alcohol consumption. It certainly made it more enticing to some.
Changing social status of alcohol consumption won’t happen overnight. It would take many decades, it is so pervasive. I would start with higher taxes, more restrictions on advertising, which has been done with cigarettes and hard liquor (although those ads are creeping into cable tv).
It would take community leaders discouraging events where alcohol is served. While I personally don’t drink any alcohol, I know that many people get a lot of enjoyment out of it. But I’d like to see more people say, “Yes, it is fun, but I’ve decided not to consume it anymore, as the side effects are potentially harmful to me and others.
It is a difficult issue because it is only a minority of alcohol users that ever have any problem at all. I’ve seen friends who drink most every day but never appeared the least bit intoxicated.
But I don’t think that “drink responsibly” is nearly enough. There is no bright line between responsible and irresponsible.
rjma…You are absolutely correct in that prevention is much better than the cure…However prohibition ( or allied solutions) has not worked in the past. How to make alcohol less socially acceptable???? Good question when we are surrounded by alcohol at every turn. Very sad situation when innocent people lose their lives due to someone ekse’s foolishness.
This is where I take some issue with this line of thinking. BSmith’s pain would not be eased if the killer was given life in prison.
Yes, really harsh sentences are what drunk drivers, esp. those that injure others deserve. But I would much rather prevent the accident in the first place. Making alcohol less socially acceptable is what I’d like to see happen in addition to harsh sentences considering that the drunk may be too drunk to be thinking about the consequences.
By the way, due to some recent court cases, some DUI charges have been dropped if the person performed the field sobriety test successfully. The thinking is that the .08 is arbitrary and that some people handle their alcohol better than others. Hard to know where that is going to take us.
I, too, feel for your loss. Nothing can help, and all I can say is I am so sorry. So as to those that excuse this behavior of past “community service” what does that have to do with it? This is weekend jail time, I also have recommended community service. He should also have a breatholizer attached to his car, at his own expense. What else, I don’t know. Mandatory meetings at AA for sure.
The question about how to stop driving drunk? At your house, take the car keys. At a bar, limit to two drinks. That will not go over with bar owners, but it’s a practical solution, unless of course, someone just goes to another bar.
Hopefully, Mr. Ryan will learn, or be forced to at least acknowledge that he committed a most serious crime. And the “what if’s” are most relevant.
A hefty fine, would that deter people?
I don’t know the answers, I am very sad that people do this. And sadder for the people who defend them.
Mr. Smith….I am so sorry about your daughter..Nothing, in this world is worse than losing a child and especially at the hands of someone who should have been take off the roads after the first DUI. Nothing I, or anyone else cansay, can ease that pain for you and I agree that the drunk drivers should be taken from the roads FOREVER. No excuses no alibis. NOTHING!!!!! Jail time is too good for them and 30 days???? What a joke. How about life????
If Mr. Ryan were a first time offender, alternative sentencing would be more acceptable, but he is not. If Mr. Ryan were a young college kid, again, first offense DUI, yes alternative sentencing, but he is not. Mr. Ryan, I hope will recognize his problem and seek help, but, the consequences are fair.
BSmith05- If I didn’t respond then I would be less than compasionate myself. I’m very sorry about your daughter. Again, my point is not that Mr. Ryan should be exempt from some penalty to fit his crime. I’m not sure about your statistic either regarding whether the ‘what if’ happens most of the time. My point is that the 30 days in jail is not serving the community as productively as some form of real community service might. Something with some real tangible result. I don’t believe that Mr. Ryan is some hardened criminal that must be separated from society. Some criminals are. If we’re going to punish someone for the crime they commit we should have that punishment serve the community with some tangible results. Again, I’m sorry about your daughter, but I disagree that having someone who does not need to be separated from society just serving some jail time is going to rehab them much less add any benefit to our society. They may be embarrased but they’ll get over that. And the ‘burying under the jail’ for carrying a concealed weapon is your opinion not the law.
Also, I never claimed to be perfect. NOONE is perfect but when you make the same huge mistake more than once, YOU SHOULD BE PUNISHED TO THE FULL EXTENT OF THE LAW.
4112- First off, I have never said my opinion is expert. It is just that, my opinion, it’s what I feel whether you or anyone else agrees with it is up to you. What if’s most of the time end up happening in a case like this. So let me explain to you that my daughter was killed by a drunk driver who had previously been cited with a DUI. He got off easy the first time, learned nothing did it again and killed an innocent person. So in my opinion someone who learns nothing the first time will learn nothing the second time if not given a harsher punishment. Also, the answer to your question is yes…if you have a license to carry a concealed weapon and you are out drinking and have the weapon with you, I say bury you under the jail along with the man who killed my daughter.
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