MARTINEZ — Jury selection began Wednesday afternoon in state Assemblyman Roger Hernandez’s misdemeanor drunken-driving trial, after a judge ruled that a Concord police officer had just cause to pull over the Southern California legislator in May.
Contra Costa Superior Court Judge Mary Ann O’Malley denied a motion to suppress evidence brought by Hernandez’s defense attorney Peter Johnson, who argued that Hernandez, D-West Covina, did not drive or behave in any manner to justify the traffic stop or subsequent DUI investigation.
Hernandez, 37, is accused of driving with a .08 percent blood-alcohol level — the legal limit in California — after admittedly having drinks with a woman in downtown Concord.
He has said he doesn’t believe he was too intoxicated to drive, and that Johnson will be challenging Contra Costa County’s blood-testing process at the trial.
Concord police Officer Mike Roberts testified Wednesday that Hernandez ….MORE