House Republican Leader Robert Watson, the trenchant and bitingly acerbic leader of the tiny GOP bloc in the overwhelmingly Democratic House of Representatives in Rhode Island, is facing charges of driving under the influence of alcohol and marijuana possession after a random stop by Connecticut police as he was driving his pickup truck through a checkpoint in East Haven, Conn., Friday night.
A police report said his eyes were “extremely glassy and bloodshot,” his speech slurred, and he had difficulty performing a series of sobriety tests.
After handcuffing Watson and placing him under arrest, the arresting police officer said he found “a small plastic sandwich bag containing a green leafy plant-like substance and a small wooden marijuana smoking pipe” in Watson’s right pants pocket.
With his political future hanging in the balance, Watson, 50, is due back in Connecticut on May 11 to face charges in a New Haven court of operating a vehicle under the influence of alcohol and possession of marijuana and drug paraphernalia.
As the story of his arrest — and subsequent release on a $500 non-surety bond — began to spread through Rhode Island on Monday, Watson, R-East Greenwich, invited his fellow House Republicans, by e-mail, to a caucus at the State House on Tuesday to “discuss with all of you my situation.”
He also issued a statement in which he explained what he was doing in East Haven at 9:30 p.m. on the Friday of a legislative break-week, and vehemently denied driving under the influence.
“I traveled to New Haven, Connecticut, on Friday afternoon to help a friend move,” he said. “Following dinner, I was traveling alone back home to Rhode Island in my pickup truck at approximately 9:30 p.m. …[when] I entered a sobriety checkpoint conducted by local police. It appeared that all vehicles were being stopped and I was detained as well.
“While confident I was a safe and sober operator, trace evidence of marijuana was discovered, and I was charged with operating under the influence, a charge I vehemently deny,” he said.
“A subsequent Breathalyzer test at the station showed that I was well below the legal limit of .08. I was processed and released within an hour. These events will be addressed fully in the proper legal forum.”“Because of the position I hold within the community as an elected official and as an attorney, I recognize that my personal issue will have to be dealt with publicly and in the court of public opinion,” Watson said.
He declined further comment when reached later in the day Monday, but said: “At the proper time, I look forward to the opportunity to explain and comment further.”
Around 11 a.m. Monday, lawyer and former state Rep. Timothy Williamson appeared outside Watson’s East Greenwich house to tell members of the news media gathered there: “He’s going to fight the charge. There is more to this story than has been reported.”
Watson plays the role of minority leader for the 10 hugely outnumbered Republicans in the House with tremendous zeal, a passion that sometimes sounds to the uninitiated like anger, and a talent for the cutting, albeit, occasionally politically incorrect phrase.
He drew fire, for example, in February when he said, “I suppose if you’re a gay man from Guatemala who gambles and smokes pot, you probably think that we’re onto some good ideas here,” referring to the General Assembly. Watson refused demands to apologize.
More recently, he tried to capitalize on the public outrage sparked by a recent wave of legislative staff pay raises by prodding the Democratic leaders of the General Assembly into holding a rare, open meeting of the leadership committee known as the Joint Committee on Legislatives Services (JCLS) on Tuesday to publicly discuss the elimination in the future of “longevity pay.”
On Monday, political friends and adversaries all called Friday night’s incident “unfortunate,” and offered varying degrees of support.
While they are often at odds on the House floor, House Speaker Gordon D. Fox, a Democrat, said of Watson: “I have served with Minority Leader Watson in the House for the past 19 years, and I consider him a friend. I am unfamiliar with the details that transpired, but I spoke with Bob today, and I offered him my support during this difficult time.”
Senate Majority Leader Dennis Algiere, R-Westerly, said “I have no issue with him staying on as minority leader. He does have a right to his day in court.”
Republican Rep. Laurence Ehrhardt, of North Kingstown, said he was “floored” by the news of Watson’s arrest. He said it comes at the “worst time for the state and for this General Assembly” when he would have hoped all of the attention and effort would be focused on “the absolute chaos” surrounding the budget.
But when asked what he believes Watson should do, he said, “my expectation is that we would like to sit tight and wait until we can have our caucus tomorrow … [and] get the facts straight” to decide what, if any, action is required.
In December, state Rep. Joseph Trillo, R-Warwick, mounted his own bid to replace Watson as House minority leader, but was unable to muster enough votes to do so. Trillo was unavailable for comment Monday.
Watson, who was first elected in 1993, has been minority leader since 1998.
According to the police report, Officer Vincent Ferrara stopped Watson’s Ford Ranger pickup truck about 9:36 p.m. on Friday and “immediately observed that the operator’s eyes were extremely glassy and bloodshot.” When asked if he had been drinking, “Watson said he had one or two drinks, but was OK to drive.”
After detecting “a distinct odor of alcoholic beverages emanating from his breath,” and noticing that Watson was “slurring his words when he spoke,” Ferrara asked Watson to submit to some field sobriety tests and Watson agreed.
“While speaking with Watson,” the officer said he also “smelled the distinct odor of marijuana on his person.”
Ferrara said Watson failed to perform a number of the tests up to sobriety-test standards, including the “one-leg stand.”
The officer said he observed Watson “bend his knee, raise his arms several times for balance, raise his foot lower than the six inches instructed and count incorrectly.”
At the East Haven police station, Watson consented to a chemical breath test. The 11:21 p.m. test showed a blood alcohol level of .05 percent, the report said, which is under the Connecticut limit of .08 percent. The police also procured a urine sample which was to be sent to the state’s laboratory for analysis.
According to Connecticut law, operating under the influence of alcohol and/or drugs is a criminal offense that may be prosecuted with or without any direct evidence of a person’s blood-alcohol level, according to the state’s Department of Motor Vehicle’s website.
The law states that the determining factor is whether the motorist’s ability to drive has been impaired.
Sgt. Gary DePalma, who was the supervisor the night of the state-funded DUI checkpoint, told the New Haven Register: “If he has marijuana in his system, that also constitutes operating under the influence.”
