BYRD HAD OPEN BOTTLE IN TRUCK

Siskiyou sheriff wasn't cited by the CHP Siskiyou County Sheriff Charlie
Byrd said he was driving home. He said he didn't realize the whiskey bottle
was on his front seat.

SACRAMENTO (AP) -- A north state county sheriff who had alcohol on his
breath and an open whiskey bottle by his side when he was pulled over by
the California Highway Patrol got a ride home that night instead of a
citation. Siskiyou County Sheriff Charlie Byrd, who is the president of the
California State Sheriff's Association, also refused to take sobriety test
after being stopped April 10 on an icy road in Weed, the CHP released
information about the stop after inquires from reporters.

Byrd, 50, said Wednesday that he wasn't intoxicated and was never asked to
submit to sobriety tests, a statement the CHP disputes.

He said the case was handled appropriately.

"I'd been fishing. I was on my way home. I didn't have my seat belt on. I
should have. I got stopped. I didn't realize it (the bottle) was there.
It shouldn't have been there," he said.

Byrd noted it is not illegal to drink before driving, so long as the driver
is not intoxicated.

Mothers Against Drunk Driving, a national organization which lobbies for
passage of tougher drunken driving laws throughout the nation, said the
sheriff should have been cited.

"While MADD doesn't want to second-guess the CHP, we believe law
enforcement agents, particularly the sheriff, should be an example to the
rest of the community." California MADD Executive Director Vicky Cloud said.

"He at least should have been cited for open container," Cloud said. "And
without benefit of a test, we won't ever know whether the sheriff was under
the influence."

Byrd, sheriff for 12 years, is running for re-election in June.

A highway patrol official said it's common for officers to assure verbal
warnings for a variety of minor offenses.

"It was the best decision given the circumstances," said Bob Forrest,
assistant chief of the CHP's Northern Division in Redding.

Forrest said he has ordered a review of how the two veteran CHP officers
involved handled the incident "to assure myself that everything was above
board and all procedures were followed properly."

MADD said the case is typical of law enforcement watching out for its own:
"It's not uncommon from what we hear," Cloud said.

Byrd was pulled over on a frontage road in his personal vehicle at about
11:30 p.m. by an officer who suspected he wasn't wearing a safety belt.

Officer Scott Marmont said he thought he smelled a mild odor of alcohol on
Byrd's breath and saw a small, half-empty whiskey bottle on the pickup seat
next to Byrd, according to CHP reports.

The report indicates Byrd refused two forms of sobriety tests.

Byrd told the officer that he had forgotten that the bottle was next to him
on the seat. It's against the law to have an open container of alcohol in
a car.

Marmont called his supervisor, Sgt. Robert Ashworth, who arrived around
midnight . Ashworth said he did not smell alcohol on Byrd's breath and
that Byrd was stable when he got out of his truck.

Ashworth decided Byrd was fatigued or ill, not intoxicated, then drove him
about a mile to his home.

Ashworth acted within department policy, according to Forrest. He noted
that Byrd hadn't been driving erratically and said the icy condition of the
road could have resulted in Byrd slipping during a sobriety test.

Checked-by: Mike Gogulski