Assemblyman Roger Hernández is set to take his drunken driving case to a jury Aug. 7.
The West Covina Democrat was given a trial date Wednesday by Contra Costa County Judge Bruce Mills, said Karen Holder, senior deputy district attorney.
Hernández did not appear at Wednesday's brief pretrial hearing, Holder said. He was represented by attorney Carin Johnson.
Hernández was charged with drunken driving last month after Concord police officers said they observed him driving erratically March 27 at about 2 a.m. on a weekday. The legislator said that he had only two glasses of wine over a five-hour period.
Tests concluded that his blood-alcohol level was 0.08, the level at which a driver can be charged with drunken driving.
Hernández has denied officers' claims that he was weaving inside a lane of traffic. He also contends that he was not impaired when stopped by officers after driving into the parking lot of a lot of a Concord hotel.
Hernández was accompanied by a 29-year-old woman and was driving a state Assembly car at the time of the incident. He has voluntarily relinquished his right to drive a legislative car until the case is resolved.
* Updated at 5:53 p.m. Thursday to correct the spelling of Carin Johnson.
Latest posts:
About Comments
Reader comments on Sacbee.com are the opinions of the writer, not The Sacramento Bee. If you see an objectionable comment, click the "report abuse" button below it. We will delete comments containing inappropriate links, obscenities, hate speech, and personal attacks. Flagrant or repeat violators will be banned. See more about comments here.