Showjumper Bertram Allen has failed in his attempt to exclude any incriminating statements he made to police from his upcoming US trial for alleged drink-driving causing damage.
Allen, who represented Ireland at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, was arrested in Florida in January following a road crash and is alleged to have failed field sobriety and blood alcohol tests.
He is the son of Bert Allen, the multimillionaire whose family formerly owned Slaney Foods.
Last month Palm Beach county judge August Bonavita heard a motion from Allen to suppress any incriminating evidence from statements he made to police. His lawyer argued the evidence was inadmissible because Allen’s “semi-coherent and mumbled affirmation” was not a proper waiver of his right to silence, known as Miranda rights. Lawyer Julian Kessell argued that his client was too impaired to properly waive his rights.
The prosecution said voluntary intoxication does not bar admission of a confession “unless it reaches mania” or a defendant had an inability to understand the meaning of his statements.
The prosecution said the “defendant was not in a state of mania and was coherent enough to participate with deputies and Investigator Escaran throughout all points of the DUI [driving under the influence] investigation.”
It said Allen did not attempt to stop the questioning, did not express at any time that he did not understand what was happening, and said “yeah, no problem” when he was being read his Miranda rights.
Allen testified via Zoom at the hearing after the court was told he will not be able to return to the United States until the immigration issues raised by the charges and the case are resolved.
He told the court that while he remembered Escaran, he did not recall being in the room where he was questioned. He did not understand what he was being told, he said, and did not comprehend the consequences of waiving his Miranda rights.
Allen testified that he was unfamiliar with US constitutional protections and the criminal justice system. He said he has lived half his life in Ireland, the other half in Germany, and has only lived in the US for six to eight months.
In his two-page ruling issued on June 6th, Bonavita said he had viewed the video taken of Allen from the blood-alcohol testing (BAT) centre and was denying Allen’s motion to suppress evidence.
“The court, having considered the motion, response and aforesaid testimony and evidence and argument and otherwise being fully advised in the premises, finds the stop of the defendant’s vehicle was proper,” he ruled.
“The court finds the defendant’s statements made after his arrest for DUI and while at the BAT Center were made after a valid waiver of his Miranda rights.”
The ruling allows statements made by Allen to the police to be available as evidence in his jury trial for drink-driving causing damage. Allen has pleaded not guilty. A pretrial hearing is scheduled for July 7th.
Read the full article at The Irish Times →
Ireland