Holt admits drinking before court

A man in court to answer public drunk charges decided to have a couple shots of courage before appearing before the judge Tuesday afternoon.

“I may have had a couple of beers,” said defendant Douglas P. Holt when asked by General Sessions Judge Larry Ross if he had been drinking prior to his appearance before the bench Tuesday.

The response prompted the judge to direct officers to take Holt outside to perform a field sobriety test before accepting his plea to separate charges of public intoxication.

“He did just fine,” said court officer Tank Young, returning to the courtroom minutes later after the sobriety test. “We could smell it on him, but he’s OK it appears.”

While passing the test, Holt still did not escape jail time as he was ordered to serve 48 hours on the public intoxication charge which had him in court in the first place. He was also given another 48 hours and 16 hours of public service work for violation of probation.

“It’s not a good idea to be drinking beer before court,” Ross advised Holt, who agreed he would not do it again.

At that point, Judge Ross told Holt he would report to jail at 8 a.m., prompting Holt to question the early hour.

“Your honor, that’s kind of early seeing I have to walk all the way out there,” Holt responded, noting he has no car.

“Well, get started walking at 6 and get an early start and then you can get there by 8,” Ross retorted, pointing out Holt already had one charge of failure to appear against him costing him an additional 24 hours in jail.