Apparently, there’s no dementia defense to drunk driving.
Former Redskins player Rickie Harris, 69, learned that lesson the hard way on Tuesday, when he was convicted of DUI. According to Justin Jounvenal of the Washington Post, Harris claimed that football-related dementia caused his erratic driving -- and possibly his drinking -- on the night in question.
“All the old players talk about ‘Can’t Remember Squat,’” Harris said. “We call it CRS.”
Harris was arrested in December 2010 after speeding and weaving over the center line three times in a 1.5-mile stretch. He said at first that he had two glasses of champagne. Harris later said he had two or three beers.
Breath-testing revealed that Harris had a blood-alcohol concentration of 0.08 percent, exactly the legal limit. The defense argued unsuccessfully that the passage of time between the arrest and the test made the result higher. (There’s also a chance it made the number lower, depending on how long Harris quit drinking before he started driving.)
The dementia defense previously resulted in a hung jury on the charges. Family members said that Harris will explore joining the concussion lawsuits against the NFL.
Because Harris has now been convicted three times of drunk driving in Virginia with a five-year period, he must spend six months in prison.