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DUI defendant suspected of being drunk in court

A Harlem man is suspected of being intoxicated when he appeared Monday for a hearing in state District Court on a charge of felony driving while intoxicated.

Gary D. Bradley was ordered by District Court Judge John Warner to go directly to the Havre Police Department following his appearance in court and submit to a breath test.

An arrest warrant was issued by the Hill County Attorney's Office this morning for failure to comply with the order.

County Attorney David Rice said today he smelled an odor of alcohol coming from Bradley as the defendant sat in the courtroom. That prompted Deputy County Attorney Cyndi Peterson to ask the judge to order the test.

Jeremy Yellin, Bradley's defense attorney, offered no objection to the request.

Bradley was charged with felony DUI on Oct. 12 and has been free on $1,000 bond since Nov. 8. One of the conditions of his release is that he remain sober pending the outcome of the current charges.

The October arrest was made while Bradley was out on bond on another charge of felony DUI that stemmed from an incident on July 20.

Bradley is also charged with two misdemeanor traffic offenses related to the Oct. 12 incident: driving while the privilege to do so is suspended or revoked and operating a motor vehicle without liability insurance in effect.

According to court documents, a Havre police officer on Oct. 12 found Bradley slumped over the steering wheel of his idling car with an opened box of Red Dog beer between his legs.

Bradley told the officer he wasn't in a car and was actually in his home, the criminal complaint said.

According to the complaint, Bradley crawled out of the police car on his knees when the car arrived at the Hill County Detention Center, and he refused to submit to a breath test.

Bradley has three previous DUI convictions in August 1988, August 1989 and February 1992.

Bradley's trial for the July charge is scheduled to take place in January, while the October offense is scheduled to go to trial in February.

If convicted, Bradley faces up to five years in Montana State Prison and up to a $10,000 fine on each of the two DUI charges.

Peterson filed a motion asking that Bradley be classified as a persistent felony offender if he's convicted of both felony DUIs. That could add an additional five years to his sentence.

 

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