DUI charge may affect Cooper?s freedom – Prosecutor says bond usually re-evaluated after new charge
The fate of state Sen. Jerry Cooper?s continued freedom on bond is in the hands of a federal judge after drunk driving charges were leveled against him following his single-vehicle interstate wreck earlier this month.
Cooper presently remains free on pre-trial release awaiting his day in federal court on charges of bank fraud, mail fraud and conspiracy to commit bank and mail fraud.
Cooper had been set to stand trial in Chattanooga before U.S. District Judge Curtis Collier on March 5.
The trial was delayed yesterday to June 4 to allow Cooper time to recover from his wreck injuries.
?Needless to say, this (wreck) was an unanticipated occurrence and could not have been foreseen by the parties or the court,? Collier wrote in his order Tuesday.
Cooper suffered a concussion, broken ribs and a significant left arm injury. He said last week he is still suffering severe headaches from the concussion.
Under what conditions Cooper will spend the time before his trial will be up to Judge Collier as pre-trial release forbids any unlawful behavior, including that of driving under the influence.
?We hope it will not affect his pre-trial release,? said Summers of the DUI charges. ?We wish it hadn?t happened. It?s just another unfortunate circumstance with what has happened to Senator Cooper.?
According to federal prosecutor Gary Humble, who declined to comment specifically on the Cooper case, when a person on pre-trial release is arrested on other charges, the person?s continued release is usually closely evaluated.
?Courts will generally review the person?s conditions of release at that point,? said Humble, indicating he could not reveal if federal prosecutors will move to revoke or modify Cooper?s pre-trial release status. ?Then, it is up to the court to decide if there needs to be other conditions to the release, or if the release should be allowed to continue.?
Other conditions of release, according to court sources, could include anything from increased bond to house arrest. On the local level, a person who accrues additional charges while out on bond is generally called in to court to show-cause for their violation of their bond conditions. In many cases, bonds are either revoked or doubled when a person picks up a charge while on bond.
?You are taught very early in law school that if your client is free on bond then they need to live very close to the foot of the cross,? said one local attorney, noting courts take a dim view of violations while on bond.
While speculation continues over how the drunk driving charge will affect his federal bond, Cooper is yet to be served with the drunk driving charge since he is still recovering from the injuries he sustained in the Feb. 7 wreck on Interstate 24 in Rutherford County.
The warrants spelling out Cooper?s actual blood-alcohol level will not be public until Cooper is served with the DUI warrant.
In the meantime, Cooper continues to recover at home while making weekly doctor?s visits. He continues his job serving the 14th District in the state Senate and presently no official action has been taken against him by the state legislature on the federal charges or the drunk driving allegations.