By John Turk
Rochester Hills
The Troy police officer accused
of drunken driving will soon face jury trial in district court.
Candace LaForest, 34, who is
charged with operating a vehicle with a high blood-alcohol content, stood
Tuesday in front of 52-3 District Judge Julie A. Nicholson for a pretrial
hearing.
The officer, who has been with
the Troy Police Department for 12 years, appeared with Farmington Hills
attorney Arthur J. Weiss, who requested the case be set for jury trial.
Weiss mentioned that LaForest
“has been alcohol free” since her Jan. 18 arrest after a traffic stop on Big
Beaver Road near Rochester Road, and that she had “completed an in-patient
program at Sacred Heart,” as well.
Nicholson, in a short hearing,
set a future hearing for jury selection at 9 a.m. April 11 and continued
LaForest’s $1,000 personal bond.
Nicholson also ordered that
LaForest verify counseling and disclose “any and all” prescribed substances she
may be taking with pretrial services.
LaForest pleaded not-guilty
during her early February arraignment in Troy’s 52-4 District Court, and the
case was swiftly moved to Rochester Hills when judges in Troy recused
themselves.
Her charges, which fall under
Michigan’s super drunk laws, come after she was stopped by colleagues while
off-duty, driving home from Troy bar “Norm’s Field of Dreams.”
The officer broke down while
being taken to the Troy Police Department lockup, and agreed and refuse a
Breathalyzer test twice before officers obtained a warrant for a blood sample
from her. Her blood-alcohol content was later found to be 0.27 percent.
Weiss, who called the case “a
tragedy” out of the courtroom, declined to comment further.