Pa. Rep. Parker found guilty of DUI

STATE REP. Cherelle L. Parker (D, Phila.) was convicted of driving under the influence Wednesday morning and was sentenced to three days in county jail and suspension of her driver's license for a year.

Montgomery County Common Pleas Judge S. Gerald Corso, who was assigned to the case by the Attorney General's Office, made the ruling in Municipal Court.

Parker's attorney, Joseph Kelly, left the courtroom proclaiming Parker's innocence and pledging to appeal the ruling, which would set off a lengthy process that would keep the lawmaker out of jail until its conclusion.

Parker, 40, who was supported in court by more than a dozen relatives and others, did not speak to reporters.

Corso also sentenced her to pay a $1,000 fine and court costs, attend alcohol-awareness and driver-safety classes and remain on parole for six months.

Parker, who represents about 60,000 residents of communities including Mount Airy, Chestnut Hill, Roxborough and Andorra, was stopped by city police just after midnight April 30, 2011, while driving her state-issued Jeep Cherokee.

Officers Israel Miranda and Stephanie Allen later would testify during a September 2011 hearing that they stopped Parker because she was driving the wrong way on Haines Street in Germantown.

The officers said that her eyes were glassy, she smelled of alcohol, her speech was slowed and she was unsteady on her feet.

Parker testified during the 2011 hearing that she had not driven the wrong way and was not drunk despite having had two beers and two chocolate martinis at Club Champagne, in Germantown.

In November 2011, Municipal Judge Charles Hayden ruled in Parker's favor and suppressed the officers' statements and all other state evidence, including a Breathalyzer test that showed Parker's blood-alcohol level was .16, or twice the legal limit to drive.

The state Attorney General's Office - which is prosecuting the case in place of the city District Attorney - appealed that ruling partly because Parker and Hayden are Facebook friends.

A higher court reversed Hayden's ruling last year, setting the stage for Wednesday's trial before Judge Corso.

Kelly said that among the reasons for his appeal would be concerns about the reliability of the Breathalyzer machine.