Judge denies ex-Sen. Acciardo's DUI evidence challenge
1:09 PM Fri, Apr 10, 2009 | Permalink
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By Mark Reynolds WARWICK, R.I. -- District Court Judge Frank J. Cenerini ruled Friday against former state Sen. Gregory J. Acciardo's challenges to the admissibility of evidence obtained when Johnston police pulled him over on suspicion of drunk driving on Jan. 15. Acciardo's lawyer, Robert Ciresi, will have a chance to establish reasonable doubt on April 24, when the trial before a judge continues with Ciresi's opportunity to make a defense presentation. The prosecution has already presented its case in District Court, Warwick. Ciresi had challenged the admissibility of evidence that included blood tests and maintained that police did not have legal grounds to stop his client nor probable cause to proceed. Acciardo, 51, was pulled over by Johnston Police Officer Ryan Lemieux, who said he noticed Acciardo driving erratically, sometimes crossing the center line, near 1400 Atwood Ave. According to the police report, Lemieux smelled "the distinct odor of an alcoholic beverage" on Acciardo's breath and Acciardo told Lemieux he had just left Mr. Bigg's Saloon, at 1463 Atwood. After agreeing to undergo a breath test, Acciardo instead was taken to Our Lady of Fatima Hospital, in North Providence, where tests showed his blood alcohol level was 0.321 percent -- about four times the legal limit, the police said. Acciardo, who represented Johnston in the state Senate for eight years through 1992, has had several run-ins with the police and court system. In April 1994, he pleaded guilty in Massachusetts to a charge of vehicular homicide stemming from a fatal head-on car crash in Rehoboth the year before and was sentenced to probation. Alcohol, drugs and speeding had been ruled out as factors, and prosecutors, with the agreement of the family of the victim, Claire Russell, did not seek prison time. In January 1998, Acciardo was sentenced to serve three years in prison after he was convicted by a jury of two counts of harboring a criminal. A little more than two years later, the Rhode Island Supreme Court overturned the conviction. 
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