Newly released video of the arrest of a Warren district court judge after he hit a SMART bus earlier this spring shows him struggling to count backwards and say the ABCs after telling a police officer he is a judge.
Judge John Chmura’s blood alcohol content was 0.19, more than twice Michigan’s legal limit, after he allegedly rear-ended a SMART bus while intoxicated in late March. Body camera footage, released by the Sterling Heights Police Department through a Freedom of Information Act request, shows Chmura tell the officer who approached him within seconds that he was a judge in Warren’s 37th District Court.
Wearing a suit and tie, Chmura told Sterling Heights Officer Johnathan Journeau that he had been drinking at a fundraiser for a hopeful Macomb County Circuit Court judge and had drank “evidently too much,” according to Journeau’s body worn camera.
“It’s not OK. It’s bad, it’s bad,” he said after struggling to recite the alphabet, and the officer told him it’s OK.
Chmura, 63, who has been a district court judge for 30 years, rear-ended the SMART bus just before midnight March 25. He was charged May 20 with operating a motor vehicle with a blood alcohol content of 0.17 or more, a misdemeanor punishable by up to a year in jail.
Chmura’s attorney David Kramer, said he did not want to comment on the case, but added: “Things are going to play out as they are. He’s got a very strong track record as being an outstanding judge and we’re going to deal with the case as it comes.”
Chmura told Journeau he did not want to do the roadside sobriety tests and he refused to allow Journeau to give him a preliminary breath test to see how intoxicated he was.
“I don’t want to do the tests, OK,” Chmura said. “Look, I’ve been on the bench for 30 years, I understand all of it. You’re going to make me do the tests?”
Chmura ultimately agreed to do the sobriety tests and struggled to understand the instructions Journeau gave him. He made several mistakes while counting backwards, twice counting up instead of down. When asked to recite the alphabet from C to N, Chmura started over several times and could not tell Journeau what letter came after I.
Chmura swayed slightly as Journeau conducted the roadside sobriety tests. Earlier in the arrest, he had to prop himself up on his car with his hand on multiple occasions.
During Chmura’s arrest, Journeau said Chmura was “visibly impaired.” Journeau wrote in the police report that Chmura appeared to be unsteady on his feet, smelled of alcohol and spoke with slurred speech.
Chmura ultimately said he would take a preliminary breath test, but Journeau said that time had passed. Chmura agreed to do a blood test to confirm his blood alcohol level.
A few minutes later, one of the officers said he was going to let Chmura take the preliminary breath test despite his earlier refusal. The officer said Chmura blew a 0.16, which is double the legal limit of 0.08. His blood alcohol content, tested later at the hospital, was 0.19, according to the police report.
The charge was authorized by the St. Clair County Prosecutor’s Office, as the Macomb County Prosecutor’s Office recused itself because of a possible conflict of interest in the case.
According to police, two people on the bus were treated on-scene for injuries, but no one was seriously injured. The bus was stopped when hit.
Chmura was appointed as a Warren District Court judge in 1996. He was made chief judge in 2008.
kberg@detroitnews.com
This article originally appeared on The Detroit News: Warren judge immediately told officer he was a judge after drunk crash
Reporting by Kara Berg, The Detroit News / The Detroit News
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