DUI hearing delayed for state Sen. Cooper

Cooper?s lawyer, Jack Mitchell, said the lawmaker could not appear in court Friday because he had a doctor?s appointment related to injuries from the wreck that led to drunken driving and speeding charges.

Rutherford County General Sessions Judge David Lowery rescheduled the preliminary hearing for Aug. 3.

?Senator Cooper is undergoing medical treatment today,? Mitchell said. ?He is still in a certain amount of pain.?

Cooper was critically injured in a car crash Feb. 7 when his SUV overturned several times on Interstate 24 in Rutherford County. He underwent surgery last week for injuries related to the crash and has not appeared at the Capitol since his surgery.

Cooper?s accident came after he attended three legislative receptions in Nashville. He was charged with drunken driving and surrendered on a warrant that showed his blood-alcohol level was 0.18 percent. Tennessee law defines drunken driving as a blood alcohol level of 0.08 percent.