GILROY
– Any thoughts that 49ers quarterback Jeff Garcia would be
making multiple court appearances to face driving under the
influence of alcohol charges following his Jan. 14 arrest were
dismissed Monday.
GILROY – Any thoughts that 49ers quarterback Jeff Garcia would be making multiple court appearances to face driving under the influence of alcohol charges following his Jan. 14 arrest were dismissed Monday.
Garcia’s attorney, met by a swarm of reporters, photographers and news cameras after a hearing Monday at San Jose Superior Court, made it clear the Gilroy native wouldn’t be present.
“I certainly don’t anticipate that Jeff will appear in court. It’s a misdemeanor, and I always appear on behalf of my clients in misdemeanors,” Steven Manchester said before exiting the courthouse.
In the courtroom, Manchester asked Judge Thomas C. Hastings to extend Garcia’s arraignment by at least one week. The San Jose-based lawyer said he needed to review one additional piece of evidence in the DUI investigation before his client could make a plea.
He would not give details.
“It’s something I have to do,” Manchester told reporters.
Hastings, who several years ago heard the nationally covered case of 12-year-old kidnap and murder victim Polly Klaas, continued Garcia’s case to March 15. The hearing begins at 9 a.m. in Department 51 at the San Jose Superior courthouse on Hedding Street.
One likely piece of evidence to be reviewed by Manchester is a blood test Garcia submitted to when he was held in jail. Results have not been released, but on two breathalyzer tests Garcia registered .237 percent and .219 percent blood alcohol levels.
The blood-alcohol limit in California is .08, meaning Garcia was driving while intoxicated at nearly three times the legal limit.
Manchester declined to answer whether the blood sample is the piece of evidence he wants to review.
“I just can’t answer that,” Manchester said.
A typical page in the playbook of DUI lawyers is to re-test blood samples to make sure police lab work is correct. If there is an error in the lab work, it opens the door to lesser or dismissed charges in some cases.
Because Garcia’s blood level was well above the legal limit, a dismissed case or lesser charges is unlikely. But if the blood sample comes back below the .20 level, the judge could be more lenient during sentencing.
Garcia was arrested on DUI charges after police said he was driving his Lincoln Navigator erratically through downtown San Jose streets, after a night of drinking with friends.
The .20 blood alcohol level is a trigger for harsher sentences. For instance, if participation in a treatment program is rendered as a punishment in a DUI case, the judge could extend the amount of time a defendant would have to serve in that program.
Deputy District Attorney Lisa Rogers said she was not aware before Monday that Garcia would ask for a continuance. She also said she did not know why the continuance was being requested.
“It’s not uncommon, and I can’t make (Manchester) tell me why that’s what he wants to do,” Rogers said.
Although the courtroom was without the three-time Pro Bowl selection, many were on hand because of Garcia. Reporters were barely outnumbered in the courtroom by defendants from other cases. And one man, apparently a friend of a defendant in another case, wore a 49ers team jersey in the courtroom.
Garcia, who turned 34 last week, already is in counseling sessions as part of the NFL’s mandatory substance abuse program.
