DUI charge against former Suwanee mayor dropped

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By David Wickert

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Gwinnett solicitors have dropped charges of driving under the influence made against a former Suwanee mayor after the police officer who arrested him was fired because of an on-the-job sexual encounter.

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Lynne Dewilde, City of Suwanee Nick Masino

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Gwinnett State Court solicitors have decided they don’t have enough evidence to prosecute 24 cases – including the DUI charge against former Mayor Nick Masino – because the former officer is not available to testify.

Masino, who was Suwanee's mayor from 2000 to 2007, was arrested in August and charged with DUI, failing to maintain a lane and unlawful use of a telecommunications device. The solicitor’s office last month asked the court to drop charges against Masino, saying it could not prove its case beyond a reasonable doubt without the testimony of former officer Michael Chavez.

Chavez lost his job in December after admitting he received oral sex from a woman he escorted home from a bar. According to an internal affairs investigation, he also failed to check the woman for weapons before allowing her in his patrol car and let her sit in the front seat – both policy violations.

Suwanee officials dismissed Chavez, citing poor decision-making.

Without his testimony, solicitors will not be able to prosecute 24 cases, most of them DUIs, according to Gwinnett Solicitor-General Rosanna Szabo. Solicitors have enough evidence on four other Chavez cases to pursue charges without his testimony, she said.

According to a police report, an off-duty police officer spotted Masino driving partly on the shoulder of southbound I-85 on Aug. 3. Chavez later observed Masino driving between lanes and pulled him over at the intersection of Lawrenceville Suwanee Road and Smithtown Road.

According to the report, Chavez smelled a strong odor of alcohol coming from Masino’s vehicle. Masino told Chavez he had had one drink at a restaurant and had strayed from his lane because he was texting.

Masino asked Chavez to follow him home or allow his wife to pick him up. Instead, Chavez arrested him.

In court documents, Masino accused Chavez of unlawfully detaining him without probable cause to believe he had committed a crime or violated any traffic law. Masino claimed the officer failed to properly read him his rights and coerced him into taking the field sobriety test.

Masino, a vice president at the Gwinnett Chamber of Commerce, did not respond to a request for comment Friday.