Menor going to jail for DUI
The state senator also loses his license after pleading no contest
State Sen. Ron Menor will spend two days in jail this weekend after pleading no contest today to a drunken driving charge.
"I deeply apologize to my family, supporters, constituents, colleagues and the people of Hawaii," Menor (D, Mililani-Waipio) said at Honolulu District Court after pleading no contest to a charge of operating a vehicle while under the influence of an intoxicant. "I have learned much from this experience and will never let it happen again."
Judge Fa'auuga To'oto'o fined him $800 and sentenced Menor to 2 days in the Oahu Community Correctional Center because he was driving drunk with a minor under the age of 15 in the vehicle. He also lost his license for 90 days.
Menor's no contest plea means that he did not challenge the charge.
Menor was arrested at about 12:30 a.m. April 27 near the Lunalilo onramp of the H-1 freeway. Police saw Menor's vehicle "weaving in a snakelike motion" as traffic began to build up behind it.
When pulled over, police said Menor smelled of alcohol and was swaying back and forth. In an arrest report, police said Menor declined to take a field sobriety test, however the senator has said he did breathe into a field preliminary alcoholic screening device.
Prosecutors said today that Menor did take an initial field sobriety test, which recorded his blood-alcohol level at .147, well above the legal limit of .08.
Menor told arresting officers that a missing contact lens was the reason for his slow driving.
He and his two sons had attended the Chicago concert at the Blaisdell Center, then went to a Japanese restaurant. He has said he had "one or two small glasses of wine" before driving.
When Menor was being processed for his arrest, he declined to take a further blood-alcohol content test. He faces losing his driver's license for up to a year for that refusal.