Housewife prevails in fighting DUI case

A housewife who was injured in a car accident successfully fought in court the charges that she was under the influence of alcohol and was driving recklessly at the time of the accident.

During a bench trial yesterday, Superior Court Associate Judge Juan T. Lizama found 30-year-old Temary Banuke Gramlich not guilty of DUI, speeding, and reckless driving.

Lizama, however, found Gramlich guilty of not being in possession of a vehicle registration card and for her refusal to take a breathalyzer test.

Lizama suspended the defendant’s driver’s license for six months and ordered her to pay a $200 fine.

“You have to remember, you are lucky because you almost killed yourself,” the judge told Gramlich.

Lizama said the defendant is stubborn, but that does not mean she was uncooperative with the police because she just got into an accident.

“You were bleeding, but you didn’t want to be taken to the hospital because you just want to go home. What if you have a blood clot in your head?” the judge asked the defendant.

Lizama said it was illogical for Gramlich not to take the breathalyzer test if she had not drank any alcoholic beverages at all, as her husband had testified in court.

Lizama said the allegation of reckless driving was speculation based on the circumstances of the case.

The judge said speeding was difficult to prove because there was no testimony that the defendant was exceeding the 35-miles-per-hour limit.

On the registration card issue, Lizama said there is no requirement as to who will show it to the officer. In this case, the defendant asked the officer to get the registration card and the officer failed to find one.

Gramlich cried when she recalled how the accident happened. She said she was driving her car on her way home to Capitol Hill on the evening of Sept. 5, 2005 when a car suddenly pulled in front of her.

It was raining at that time and the road was slippery, she said.

Gramlich said she applied the brakes and turned the steering wheel to the left to avoid hitting the car. Instead her car skidded then flipped over to the opposite lane.

The defendant said she was injured in the chin and that she had a headache. She said she refused to be taken to the hospital by an ambulance because she was so scared and just wanted to go home.

Gramlich admitted she refused to take the breath test and that she lied to police when she told them she consumed beer at that time.

Police said they found two beer cans in the car and that the defendant smelled of alcohol.

But Gramlich said she acknowledged drinking beer because the police were asking her a lot of questions and that she just wanted to “get rid of it” and go home. Her husband testified that she does not drink alcohol at all.

Assistant public defender Samuel Randal defended Gramlich. Former Chief Prosecutor Jeffrey Moots represented the government.