Bannister DUI arrest raises questions

By Patrick Fox and David Wickert

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Gwinnett County Commission Chairman Charles Bannister vowed Tuesday to turn in the keys to his county car, but not his resignation, following his arrest on a drunken driving charge.

The beleaguered official, the subject of a recall effort fueled by Gwinnett residents angry over tax increases, garbage service and other issues, was stopped Monday night after leaving a restaurant and bar in Lilburn. He was charged with driving under the influence and improper turning.

The arrest was unusual in several ways, including Bannister’s score of .000 on an alcohol breath test. The call that alerted law enforcement was made directly to an off-duty deputy sheriff instead of going to 911, and a Gwinnett deputy sheriff made the arrest— the fifth DUI arrest made by the Sheriff’s Department this year — even though the Police Department handles a large majority of such cases in the county.

The Sheriff’s Department reported that when Bannister was stopped, he failed three field tests for sobriety before the arrest was made.

Bannister maintained he was not guilty, saying he was confident he would be “completely exonerated,” but he also issued an apology.

“I regret that this matter has occurred,” he said in a statement Tuesday. “I am making the results of the state-administered breath test results public which indicates that the machine was working properly and the test results were 0, which indicates no presence of alcohol in my system. I apologize to the residents of Gwinnett County, my colleagues, and my family for any embarrassment this has caused.”

Bannister said he will not drive any county vehicles but will continue his full-time duties as chief executive.

Interviews and public documents from the Sheriff’s Department describe how the incident unfolded.

At about 6:30 p.m., a patron at Cafe Hot Wing at 895 Indian Trail Road in Lilburn called Sheriff’s Investigator B. Taormina with the report of a man drinking beer while meeting with other men. The patron, David Nesmith, said he thought the man was Charles Bannister and that he had arrived in a black Ford Crown Victoria with Gwinnett County government tags.

The sheriff’s report states that county policy prohibits consumption of alcohol while operating a staff vehicle. A spokesman for Gwinnett County, however, said a check of records shows no such policy exists.

The county’s ethics policy bans the “unauthorized use, possession, sale, or solicitation for the purpose of purchase/sale of drugs or alcohol on county property or while the employee is on duty.”

Taormina, who was off-duty, contacted the Sheriff’s Department, which dispatched Deputy M.G. Cummings to the restaurant. Sheriff’s Lt. Buzz Benson, who took the call, also headed there and arrived at 7:20 p.m.

Benson said he spoke with Cummings and both decided to use discretion and wait until it was obvious the driver appeared to be impaired. Cummings took a position at a gas station adjacent to the shopping center.

At 7:51 p.m., as the group broke up, Bannister cashed out, using his personal American Express card. The tab was $20.35 and included one Diet Coke, five Bud Light draft beers and one half pitcher of Bud Light.

Bannister walked to his car with another man. They spoke briefly, then parted. Bannister then got into his car and headed onto eastbound Indian Trail Road. Cummings followed, noting the car’s brake lights flashing from time to time and the car weaving from the center divider to the line next to the shoulder three times. About a mile up the road, as the car neared U.S. 29, it made an abrupt lane change from right to left without a signal. A driver in the left lane slammed his brakes to avoid a collision.

After the car crossed U.S. 29, Cummings hit his flashing lights. The car pulled onto Sandra Drive and stopped.

When Cummings walked up to the car, the passenger’s window was down. He asked Bannister for his license and registration. Cummings wrote in his report that he could smell a strong odor of alcohol on Bannister’s breath. He said Bannister appeared nervous and was shaking. His eyes were glazed and his speech was slurred.

After judging Bannister to have failed the field tests for sobriety, Cummings placed him under arrest at 8:22 p.m. Cummings also searched the vehicle and found the American Express receipt.

Benson took the receipt and returned to Cafe Hot Wing to interview witnesses. He also obtained a matching vendor receipt for the one found in Bannister’s car.

Bannister was taken to the county jail, where he agreed to submit to a breath test for alcohol.

“I can’t believe this is all over one to two beers,” Cummings quoted Bannister as saying.

The test came back .000.

Cummings then told Bannister that because the results were inconsistent with someone who had consumed one or two beers, he would like to administer a blood test. Bannister consented and was taken to Gwinnett Medical Center.

Following the procedure, Bannister was taken back to the jail and the blood vials were locked into evidence, where they sit today, awaiting transport to the GBI crime lab.

Results of the blood test may not be available for another month, GBI spokesman John Bankhead said. He said processing usually takes 25 to 30 days.

Following booking and processing, Bannister was released on his own recognizance at 11:16 p.m. He had been at the jail 2 hours and 16 minutes.

Sheriff’s spokesman Stacey Bourbonnais said the chairman was not rushed through the process, but he was released because he presented a safety and security risk at the jail.

The arrest fueled some chatter about Bannister’s relations with Sheriff Butch Conway, who said he’s aware of accusations about political payback. The sheriff backed Bannister’s primary opponent, Lorraine Green, in 2008, and relations between the two have not thawed much since.

“I can assure you he wasn’t set up,” Conway said. “We could have not responded to it and then not have that issue come up.”

Although the Sheriff’s Department is primarily charged with operating the jail, providing court security and serving warrants, deputies do handle traffic cases on occasion. The Sheriff’s Department has issued more than 200 traffic citations since Jan. 1, said Bourbonnais.

“We had information a county employee had been drinking,” Conway said. “If Mr. Bannister had gotten on the road and driven in a safe manner, he wouldn’t have been stopped.”

Ben Sessions, a Gwinnett-based lawyer who handles DUI cases, said the scenario strikes him as extremely unusual.

“That’s a hard-core investigation,” he said. “You never have an officer who goes back to a restaurant and asks for a receipt. That’s insane. If your case is good, why in the hell would you have to do all that stuff?”

Sessions called it “exceptionally harsh treatment.”

“You talk about the inverse of special treatment,” he said. “It sounds like sort of a witch hunt. They were certainly going hard after someone who blew a triple zero.”

Dacula resident Randolph De Vault, who has launched a recall effort against Bannister, said the arrest indicates the chairman has poor judgment. But he also expressed sympathy for Bannister.

“I’m certain that if [the accusation] proves to be true it will turn his life upside down,” De Vault said.

County Commissioners Mike Beaudreau and Bert Nasuti said people should not judge Bannister before they know all the facts.

“He deserves a chance to explain what happened,” Beaudreau said.

“Obviously there’s a process of justice that has to run its course,” Nasuti said. “I don’t think all the information’s in at this point.”

Staff writer Andrea Simmons contributed to this article.