Scott Weiland Formally Charged For DUI; Could Face A Year In Jail

SCOTT WEILAND FORMALLY CHARGED FOR DUI; COULD FACE A YEAR IN JAIL:

December 12, 2007

Scott Weiland was formally charged Wednesday (December 12) with driving under the influence of drugs and refusing a chemical test that is required by law, TMZ.com reports. As previously reported, the Velvet Revolver frontman — who was arrested November 21 in Los Angeles — will be arraigned Thursday in a court in Van Nuys, California.

Weiland faces a “maximum penalty of one year county jail and a $1,000 fine, and a minimum penalty eight days in jail,” in light of his prior conviction and refusal to take a drug test, Los Angeles City Attorney spokesman Frank Mateljan said in a statement, according to the site. He added that Weiland’s car could be impounded for no more than 30 days.

Earlier this month, the rock star’s management issued a statement denying the driving-under-the-influence charge and said he had voluntarily taken a sobriety test. “Scott Weiland was recently involved in a minor accident in Los Angeles and denies he was driving under the influence,” the statement read. “He voluntarily took a Breathalyzer test, which the defense believes registers well within the legal limit. He is anxious to get to court on December 13 and clear this matter up.”

Prior to the statement being released, TMZ.com posted a copy of the arrest report, which stated that Weiland was driving on a Los Angeles highway around 6:18 p.m. on November 21 when he was involved in a non-injury collision in which it was determined he was at fault. “While the police were investigating the traffic collision, Weiland exhibited signs of impairment,” the report read. “The investigation officer administered a series of field sobriety tests to the driver, which he was unable to satisfactorily perform.”

The singer was arrested for driving under the influence of a drug and then taken to the LAPD jail in Van Nuys, where he allegedly refused to take a blood or urine test. He was later released on $40,000 bail, an amount that is much higher than the typical misdemeanor bail in such a case, likely due to the singer’s prior arrests.

Weiland has been arrested multiple times over the past decade for a variety of drug offenses in California and New York, and has spent time in jail on several occasions. He was arrested in 2003 in Hollywood after a traffic accident and charged with driving under the influence of drugs and alcohol, though those charges were eventually dismissed after he successfully completed a drug rehab program and submitted to drug tests.

In a 2005 issue of Esquire magazine, he claimed that he was off drugs for good. “The prospect of losing my wife and my children changed everything,” he told the magazine about the struggles he’s had with second wife, Mary Forsberg, over his drug use; the couple have two children. “I don’t think anymore about getting high.”

Courtesy of www.vh1.com