Saturday, September 24, 2016

New judge assigned to Scott Watson administrative hearing

The administrative hearing to determine if Mercy McCune-Brooks Hospital Administrator Scott Watson will retain his driving privileges will be heard in Newton County Circuit Court, but not by a Newton County judge, according to online court records.

After the former Newton County Prosecuting Attorney's case was moved from Jasper County to Newton County on a change of venue, Judge Tim Perigo postponed a September 7 hearing to allow a special prosecutor to be appointed, according to the online records and then sent a request to the Missouri Supreme Court to appoint an out-of-circuit judge.

 Judge Charles Curless from Barton County was appointed. The hearing date has not been scheduled.

Watson's driving privileges were suspended after the Joplin Police Department arrested him 1:15 a. m. July 2 at the 9 mile marker on eastbound I-44 for driving while intoxicated. Online court records indicate Watson refused to take a breathalyzer test, a claim that is disputed by Watson's attorney Judd McPherson, Joplin, in his request for a stay to allow Watson to continue driving until the administrative hearing is held.

"Plaintiff was not properly under arrest and the said officer did not have reasonable grounds to believe that Plaintiff committed any offense."

The petition says Watson, who was Newton County prosecuting attorney for 14 years, "did not refuse to submit to any chemical test at the request of said officers," and "was not informed that his license may be revoked upon refusal to submit to a test.:

The officer "did not have reasonable grounds to believe plaintiff was driving a motor vehicle while in an intoxicated condition," according to the petition.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Oh brother, Scott knew that his license would be revoked if he refused a test. He has been prosecuting drunk drivers for years. MADD has even given him a plaque that he had hanging in his office. His legal maneuvering is a game that is being played. The arresting officer will be asked "Do you swear to tell the truth..." It would be nice if Scott and his attorney would do the same.

Anonymous said...

...were you there?....

Anonymous said...

Perhaps he could hook up with the arresting officer on Facebook and send nude pics of himself and walk on the charges

Anonymous said...

Thanks Scott for teaching us how to get out of a dwi we will be asking questions why it it worked for you and not us Hmmmmmmmmmmmm"

Anonymous said...

If you had bothered to ask your attorney what to do in the event you got stopped, he would have told you to refuse to take the field sobriety tests and not to submit to the breath testing. Hell, most of us have known that since we started driving.