Rep. Wood in middle of legal troubles after OWI charge changed - UW Badger Herald

[void]

Rep. Wood in middle of legal troubles after OWI charge changed - UW Badger Herald
09-07-2010 03:42 AM



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[viscosity]

Rep. Wood in middle of legal troubles after OWI charge changed

Rep. Jeff Wood, I-Chippewa Falls, continues to face legal troubles after the defense attorney in his drunken driving case quit and the charge itself was amended to a higher offense Friday.

Attorney Tracey Wood, who is not related to the representative, moved to withdraw as counsel from the Marathon County case after stating in an earlier brief her fundamental disagreement with how Wood wished to argue the case, as well as the fact Wood has failed to pay her retainer fee, according to online court records.

Wood, who contested the motion, said he had paid the fee, but Tracey Wood said he only paid half. Wood claimed he has paid the lawyer $17,000 in trial fees so far.

Judge Jill Falstad ruled additional time would not help to resolve the matter and allowed Tracey Wood to remove herself from the case.

Tracey Wood has already withdrawn from another pending OWI case involving Wood in Monroe County.

Tracey Wood’s office refused to comment on the issue.

Wood will now need to secure a new lawyer and is scheduled to reappear in court to discuss the matter within a month.

Wood’s OWI charge was also amended from a third-offense to a fourth-offense OWI as a result of his OWI conviction in Columbia County in April, said Marathon County Assistant District Attorney Kala Strawn during the hearing.

When Wood was initially charged in Marathon County, he only had two prior drunken driving convictions on his record from 1991 and 1992.

New drunken driving legislation in Wisconsin that went into effect in July makes a fourth-offense OWI a felony, but Wood was charged before the new law went into effect and his fourth-offense OWI is therefore only a misdemeanor.

Wood faces a maximum of 60 days in jail if convicted.

A plea bargain for the Monroe County charge against Wood was taken off the table Aug. 3 after Wood claimed he did not understand the agreement and therefore did not feel comfortable moving forward.

Wood was charged with OWIs three times between December 2008 and December 2009. His arrest in Marathon County was the second in this series of arrests. Wood was convicted in Columbia County for third-offense drunken driving. He was also charged with possession of drug paraphernalia, but that charge was dropped as part of the plea bargain.

Wood was arrested in Columbia County for driving erratically and told officers he had taken anxiety medication and cough syrup, according to the police report.

Although there was no alcohol in his system, Wood’s blood contained eight times the therapeutic range for a cough syrup ingredient called dextromethorphan.

Wood served 32 days of a 45 day sentence and was released early for good behavior and time already served. He was allowed work release privileges to carry out legislative duties during his sentence.

Assembly members voted to publicly censure Wood, but a resolution to expel the lawmaker failed.

Wood’s term in the legislature ends in January, and he will not be seeking reelection.

[WMW]

8x the therapeutic dose is what, 400+? I hope he tried the higher plats tbh, expanding his mind. If his only experience is with a 1st/ 2nd plat dose, then I fear he will only think of it as something to get fucked up on.

I mean, what is a faster way back into favor with the public than condemning and trying to pass legislation against something that ruined your life ( and possibly, the life of your kids!!!!111!!!11!!!!1!).

[Randolph Carter]

Huh, so one of the pigs tried dex, eh? This is some bad publicity if there ever was.

[locomotiv]

Originally Posted by WMW

I mean, what is a faster way back into favor with the public than condemning and trying to pass legislation against something that ruined your life ( and possibly, the life of your kids!!!!111!!!11!!!!1!).

dont expect this guy to do that as hes not running for reelection. i know what you mean though. i could see a politician bullshitting some spin like that.

Originally Posted by Massive Blowjob

Huh, so one of the pigs tried dex, eh? This is some bad publicity if there ever was.

this character was a state legislature, not a cop.

[Decepticonus]

Rep. Wood... hehehehe.

[JayMark]

Originally Posted by WMW

8x the therapeutic dose is what, 400+?

I dunno about where you live but here a normal dose as suggested on the bottle is 15 to 30mg so 8X the maximum recommended dose would be 8X 30mg so 240mg which is good for a buzz if you have no tolerance but still, it's a second plateau max.

My first trips were roughly 250mg and I was pretty fucked but didn't look THAT wasted, just like if I had smoked a lot of pot or something like that. Or maby warmed up on alcohol but not drunk.

[Nivra ha-Rishon]

This is the first I've heard of a person testing positive for DXM specifically!

[darklife]

Awe what the hell I will reply to this. This whole story took place near where I live and was plastered all over the local news channels for a while. I thought this was old news? At least it is here.
I seen the videos of Wood walking the sobriety test. He could hardly even stand up. He didn't look dexed at all but instead looked really drunk. I believe he used cough syrup as an excuse IMHO. A lot of people around here know if they get it for a DUI to lie and say they had cough syrup or accidentally swallowed a cap of Listerine. They think it will lesson the charge somehow.
Weird how this story became so popular it even made it on to the TV show "The Smoking Gun Presents.." where they showed the stupidest drunken drivers.

[Randolph Carter]

Originally Posted by locomotiv

this character was a state legislature, not a cop.

Doesn't mean he's not a pig. He certainly works in tandem with the cops. Part of the same system, etc.