TV dad Matt Roloff was found not guilty of driving under the influence of intoxicants. Roloff, 46, who produces and stars in the reality show "Little People Big World" waived his right to a jury trial when both sides became concerned there would be a call for a mistrial. The case was handed over to Judge Donald R. Letourneau for summary judgment.
Both sides heard jurors may have done research outside the facts of the case, defense attorney Roger Thuemmel said.
Roloff, who is disabled by dwarfism, was pulled over late in the evening of June 19 after he left the parking lot of a pub. His van was spotted by a Sheriff's Deputy wandering over the lane line several times. Matt told the cop that he was driving his wife's van and having some difficulty with it. The little person couple both have specially modified pedals in their vehicles, but Amy's legs are much shorter.
The cop though he smelled booze and gave Roloff a brief field sobriety test. The TV star was arrested for DUII, failure to maintain his lane, and later, refusing to take a breath test at the jail.
A witness in his defense said he did not see Roloff drinking that night.
Judge Letourneau said he found the defense witnesses credible. "The proffered explanation of the pedals being not proper for Mr. Roloff's size is accepted by the court," he said.
Letourneau said he also found the officers' testimony credible, but lamented the failure of the prosecution to present an expert witness to verify the reliability of the field sobriety test.
However, the judge found Roloff guilty of refusing to take the breath test and not staying in his lane of travel, and fined him $742 for the violations and $103 in court fees.
Under Oregon's "implied consent" law, Roloff's driver's license was suspended for three years because he refused to take a breath test after his June arrest and had gone through a previous drunken-driving diversion program within the past five years. Even though he was found not guilty in the current case, Roloff cannot get his license back any sooner.
You can expect Matt to be explaining the whole ordeal to his viewing audience (and his wife Amy!) on the show this season.
