PEDALMAN CONVICTED IN DRUNKEN DRIVING CASE
Monday, July 21st, 2008 -- 10:08 AM
A Dorchester man will spend a few days in jail for his role in the most infamous drunk driving case in Clark County history.A jury of 6 men and 6 women found 56-year-old Edwin Marzinske of Dorchester guilty of second-offense drunken driving Friday.
Marzinske and pal Harvey Miller, were busted for simultaneously operating the same pickup truck while inebriated.
Colby-Abbotsford police officer Brian Rennie pulled the truck over in August and found Miller, who is paralyzed from the waist down, behind the wheel.
"He admitted that he was just steering," Rennie testified of his conversation with Miller, "I asked who was working the pedals and Mr. Marzinske said that he was operating the pedals."
So? if you're following along, two apparently drunk men were operating an old pick-up truck in tandem.
A fact stipulated to by Miller, who also testifed.
He was asked if the two had been drinking.
"Ummm," Miller said, followed by a long pause, "Yeah."
The jury apparently didn't buy Attorney John Stichert's defense that the "intoxometer" wasn't accurate when it showed Marzinske's blood-alcohol level was .09 or Marzinske's opinion that neither man was driving because neither had complete control of the vehicle.
Clark County Circuit Court Judge Jon Counsell sentenced Marzinske to five days in jail and ordered him to pay a fine of $894. He also lost his license for a year and must undergo counseling.
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