Former Tennessee Rep. Jeremy Durham facing DUI, resisting arrest charges

Former Tennessee Rep. Jeremy Durham, ousted from the legislature in 2016 amid allegations of sexual misconduct, now faces multiple charges after a suspected drunk-driving crash in downtown Nashville.

Metro Nashville police came in contact with Durham when they were called to 1st Avenue North and Broadway on Saturday about 11:15 p.m. after a reported car wreck.

Durham slurred his speech, had dilated pupils and was unsteady on his feet while talking with officers, all signs of impairment, according to an arrest affidavit. Police detained Durham after he attempted to walk away from the scene and resisted being handcuffed, according to court records.

One officer wrote in the arrest affidavit there was an "obvious odor of an alcoholic beverage coming from his breath and person, his eyes were blood shot and watery, and his speech appeared slow and mumbled."

Durham was asked to do a field sobriety test but instead responded over and over with "lawyer." He denied a blood test by saying the same word, according to the affidavit.

Police requested the courts grant them a warrant to collect two vials of blood from Durham. During a search, officers found a grinder with suspected marijuana residue inside, according to the arrest affidavit.

Durham faces a misdemeanor charge of driving under the influence, resisting arrest and unlawful use of drug paraphernalia.

Durham, R-Franklin, was expelled from the legislature in 2016 months after an investigation by The Tennessean revealed inappropriate text messages to several women. A subsequent investigation by the Tennessee Attorney General's Office detailed allegations by 22 women that Durham made lewd comments, gave inappropriate hugs and had sex with a 20-year-old "college student/political worker" at his legislative office and home.

The Tennessee Bureau of Ethics and Campaign Finance launched its own investigation ultimately levying the harshest fine campaign finance officials have issued against an elected official. The investigation found Durham violated campaign finance law hundreds of times spending thousands of donor money on goods and services not related to his campaign.

Durham appealed the fine at first snagging a legal victory when an administrative law judge ruled the Registry of Election Finance excessively fined the dishonored lawmaker. The six-member campaign finance panel unanimously voted to reject the opinion and uphold the $465,000 fine.

Once again, Durham appealed to the chancery court. The court ruled in favor of the registry. The case is currently in the hands of the Court of Appeals.

Durham also is connected to a federal case against Nashville social club owner Joshua Smith and state Sen. Brian Kelsey, R-Germantown.

An indictment against Smith and Kelsey list, but does not charge, an unnamed co-conspirator known as an attorney and "member of the Tennessee House of Representatives from in or around September 2016, when he was expelled by a vote of the House." Durham was the only member of the legislature expelled in 2016.

Smith pleaded guilty in the case.

Efforts to reach Durham were not immediately successful. He has no attorney listed in court records to represent him on these charges. Durham's arrest was first reported by Scoop Nashville.

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Former TN lawmaker Jeremy Durham facing DUI, resisting arrest charges