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SALT LAKE CITY — An assistant U.S. attorney charged with driving under the influence of alcohol will get another day in court after a judge declared a mistrial Wednesday.
Earl N. "Trey" Mayfield faces charges of DUI and speeding after being stopped by a Salt Lake police officer last year. His jury trial was about an hour old when Salt Lake City Justice Court Judge L.G. Cutler ended the proceeding and rescheduled it for Dec. 13.
Officer Benjamin Hone was testifying when defense attorney Ed Brass moved for a mistrial based on a question prosecutor Andrew Deesing asked regarding what Mayfield said after being read his Miranda rights. Brass successfully argued the inquiry called into question Mayfield's right to remain silent, leaving the jury to wonder if Mayfield was hiding something.
Cutler agreed. "It puts the defendant in a negative light when it's a constitutional right," he said.
Prior to that, Hone testified that he clocked Mayfield driving 16 miles an hour over the 30 mph speed limit near 400 West and 500 South just after midnight Nov. 19, 2009. Mayfield rolled his car window down less than an inch to hand him his driver's license, he said. Hone testified he smelled alcohol when he put his face closer to the window. He said Mayfield had glassy eyes, slack facial features and a flushed face.
Mayfield, he said, refused all but one of several field sobriety and breath tests, saying he was an attorney and that the officer wasn't conducting them properly.
"I'm going to take the advice I give all my clients and not take the test," Hone testified Mayfield said. "Why would I take the tests? It's a horrible position to be in."
In his opening statement, Brass said Mayfield works in the white collar unit of the U.S. Attorney's Office where cases are difficult and complex. Mayfield worked late the night of Nov. 18 and had a couple of beers over 90 minutes to unwind before driving home, he said.
Mayfield rolled the window down part way because it was a bitterly cold night, Brass said. Mayfield was within his rights to not take the field sobriety tests, he said. In addition, Mayfield felt the police had predetermined the outcome.
Brass told the jury the case comes down to whether Mayfield was too impaired to drive that night.
As per state law, Mayfield's driver's license was suspended for refusing to take the breath test. A bench trial was held in 3rd District Court last month regarding the status of the suspension. The judge has yet to rule in the matter.
The U.S. Attorney's Office is aware of the case but had no comment on it.
E-mail:romboy@desnews.com
