Police body cam footage: Officers thought County Council attorney was 'super intoxicated'

EVANSVILLE — Newly released video shows one Evansville police officer describing Vanderburgh County Council attorney Jeff Ahlers as “super intoxicated” during his late-night arrest on suspicion of drunken driving June 26, while another officer flatly stated, “he’s drunk.”

More than a month later, Vanderburgh County Prosecutor Nick Hermann hasn’t filed charges against Ahlers, nor has he sought appointment of a special prosecutor, according to court officials. Hermann has not responded to several Courier & Press texts and emails, or to messages left with an office spokeswoman, including a message sent this week.

Body camera and Evansville Police Department car dashboard footage obtained by the Courier & Press via a public records request refutes claims by Ahlers' attorney, Scott Danks, that Ahlers asked to be tested as soon as possible — on the scene — but that officers wouldn't do it.

Instead, the video shows officers offered Ahlers a roadside intoxilyzer test, which he did not take. Danks didn't answer calls from the Courier & Press on Wednesday seeking comment.

Earlier coverage:A Southern Indiana sheriff says he removed attorney's mugshot, arrest info from website

Ahlers arrived at the jail about 76 minutes after the initial traffic stop, the EPD transport van being delayed by a call to pick up two more arrestees in another part of town.

When officers told the County Council attorney at the jail that they were about to administer an intoxilyzer test there, Ahlers repeatedly argued for a process that would result in further delays: a blood-drawn alcohol test for which he would have to be taken to a hospital. He asked for it so many times that one of the arresting officers finally told him he wasn't going to say no again.

"Can I take a blood draw?" Ahlers asked. "Can you take me to the hospital for a blood draw?"EPD Officer Jacob Malcomson replied, "No, we cannot do that."

According to police, as well as studies on the matter, blood-alcohol content typically decreases by 0.015 percent per hour. Most studies say the effects of alcohol normally peak between 30 minutes of drinking to a maximum of 90 minutes. A study published by the Journal of Forensic Science found that blood-alcohol concentrations peaked about 40 minutes after test subjects consumed mixed drinks and a meal.

The jail video shows Ahlers telling the arresting officer and an intoxilyzer machine operator that blood-drawn tests are "more accurate." But officers reminded him it was now 1:40 a.m., and that his transport to the jail had taken time as the vehicle picked up "everybody and their brother."

The jail officer administering the chemical breath test told Ahlers, "this is a certified reading" that is "accepted as evidence in court."

But in an exchange that lasted more than two full minutes, Ahlers continued arguing for a blood test at a hospital. At 1:43 a.m., 86 minutes after Ahlers' traffic stop, he said: "Can you reconsider, officers?"

"I have reconsidered, and the answer is no," Malcomson replied.

"Please?" Ahlers said.

Earlier coverage: Prosecutor mum on charging Ahlers; defense attorney questions decisions by 'young, eager' cop

Malcomson then said, "I'm telling you, I'm not going to tell you no again."

At one point, a breath test machine operator responded to Ahlers' request for a blood-drawn test by saying it "takes a lot more time."

Ahlers replied with a question: "Can I do that?"

Indiana case law does not give drunken driving suspects the right to choose their own testing method, according to the Vanderburgh County Public Defender's Agency.

Ahlers gets $54,000-plus to advise county budget writers

Ahlers has served as the chief legal adviser to the Vanderburgh County Council, a part-time job, since 1997. The seven-member council controls the purse strings of county government, crafting the annual budget — which includes prosecutor Hermann's office and the Vanderburgh County Sheriff's Office — and exercising authority over salaries and job descriptions. It can also pass resolutions.

Ahlers, who practices law privately at Kahn, Dees, Donovan & Kahn, is paid $54,632 annually for his assistance to the County Council.

Vanderburgh County Sheriff Dave Wedding acknowledged that he removed Ahlers' mugshot and arrest information from the sheriff's office website the day of his arrest. Wedding said it's up to the sheriff's office how long mugshot photos stay online and whether they get posted at all.

The 'rising blood-alcohol content defense' and what the video shows

Danks, Ahlers' attorney, told the Courier & Press earlier this month that Ahlers' blood-alcohol content would have been lower at the scene of the stop, since he had consumed several beers over an extended period of time and a mixed drink within 15 minutes of getting pulled over.

Police reported they saw Ahlers' white Mercedes appearing to swerve as he turned from Gum Street onto Vann Avenue and said he ran the red light at the intersection of Vann and Bellemeade avenues. Ahlers can be seen running a red light in police dash camera footage.

Danks conceded that blood-alcohol content typically decreases with every hour — if, he said, it is on its way down. But Danks contends that Ahlers' blood-alcohol content was on its way up when he was stopped, and said it was at its "absolute maximum" when he was tested.

This is known as the "rising blood alcohol content defense," a tactic employed by criminal defense attorneys, according to the American Prosecutors Research Institute.

That defense may help explain Ahlers' actions at the jail on the night of his arrest, when he repeatedly pushed for a process that he was told would delay his test — but it doesn't explain why he didn't avail himself of a roadside intoxilyzer test when police offered it at the scene of the arrest.

Ahlers' blood-alcohol level ultimately was found to be 0.077 percent − just under Indiana's legal limit of 0.08 percent. Although police officers reported that Ahlers failed multiple field sobriety tests, Danks argues that a reading below 0.08 percent means the County Council attorney shouldn't be charged with drunken driving.

However, EPD spokeswoman officer Taylor Merriss says drivers can, and are, charged with driving while intoxicated based on sworn testimony from officers that the driver was impaired behind the wheel.

The Evansville Police Department has told the Courier & Press it stands by its officers' decision to arrest Ahlers.

"Regardless of toxicity, you can still be impaired and arrested even if the result is below 0.08 percent," Merriss said earlier this month.

Thomas B. Langhorne can be reached by email at tom.langhorne@courierpress.com.

This article originally appeared on Evansville Courier & Press: Officer: County council attorney was 'super intoxicated'