Cleveland Browns Alvin Bailey Faces Possible Suspension after DUI

According to a recent news article from ESPN, Alvin Bailey, a guard on the Cleveland Browns, is facing a possible two-game suspension following his plea of no contest to a criminal charge that he was driving under the influence in the city’s suburban area.

Prosecutors have said Bailey was arrested following a traffic stop.  The arresting offer witnessed Bailey speeding and initiated a stop of his vehicle. The officer wrote in his police report that Bailey exited his vehicle despite the officer ordering him to remain in his vehicle.  Police officers typically want a suspect to have his or her hands in a vehicle that is turned off with the driver’s window down and do not want to the suspect to get out of vehicle until told to do so, as this can be very dangerous for an officer without backup. Once Bailey exited the vehicle, he reportedly reached under the tailgate of his vehicle, then he acted surprised that the officer was standing near him.  He then allegedly told the officer that he had been drinking on the team plane, which had landed earlier that night. As noted in the article, team and league rules prohibit players from consuming alcohol on a team flight.

After learning that Bailey’s blood alcohol concentration was .145 grams of ethanol per hundred milliliters of blood, which is nearly two times the legal limit of 0.08, he lost his driving privileges for a period of six months.   As our Boston drunk driving accident lawyers can explain, while the legal limit is 0.08 grams of ethanol, this only means that when a person is over that they are deemed drunk as a matter of law, so long as the scores can be certified as accurate.  This does not mean that a person with a BAC of .06, for example, is sober and not being negligent when driving.  We have seen many cases where a person had a BAC much lower than the legal limit but was still clearly under the influence and was negligently responsible for a serious accident resulting in significant personal injury to the driver and other innocent victims.

In addition to the drunk driving charges, Brown was also charged with various other charges in connection with possession of illegal drugs or illegal drug paraphernalia. It should be noted that all but the drunk driving charge was dropped when he pleaded guilty.

Based upon league and team policy, Bailey faces up to a two-game suspension related to the drunk driving incident to which he pleaded no contest.  While he has not yet been sentenced in connection with his plead of no contest, he will face either three days in the county jail or will have to take a three-day traffic alcohol program, which is commonly known as a TAP program.  If he were to be arrested again for DUI and those charges were not dismissed, he would face a much harsher response from the NFL and team.

If you or someone you love has been injured a Boston drunk driving accident, call for a free and confidential appointment at (617) 777-7777.

Additional Resources:

Browns’ Alvin Bailey looking at possible 2-game suspension for drunk driving, November 4, 2016, By Pat McManamon, ESPN

More Blog Entries:

Report: Drunk Driving Crash at Daytona International Speedway, April 9, 2016, Boston DUI Accident Lawyer Blog