St. Louis Cardinals manager Tony LaRussa was arrested Thursday for suspicion of drunken driving after police said they found him asleep inside his running sport utility vehicle at a stop light.

The 62-year-old LaRussa gave two breath samples and was determined to have a blood alcohol content of 0.093 percent, Jupiter police said in a statement. Florida's legal driving limit is 0.08 percent.

Undercover officers first saw LaRussa's SUV partly in an intersection around midnight and not moving despite several green lights, police said. Officers knocked on the vehicle's window and LaRussa did not initially respond.

The SUV was in drive and running, with LaRussa's foot on the brake, police said. When he eventually woke up, the officers asked him to get out of the car.

He was arrested and booked in the Palm Beach County jail on the misdemeanor about 4 a.m., according to police and jail records.

The Cardinals play spring training games at Roger Dean Stadium in Jupiter.

The American Bar Association approved a resolution condemning President Bush's mis-practice of writing exceptions to legislation he signs into law.

At the ABA's annual meeting, delegates, representing 410,000 members, approved the resolution objecting to any president using bill signing statements to dilute or change laws rather than using a veto.

Only one bill (on stem cell research) has been vetoed by Bush, but the president has written exceptions to 800 legislative provisions, more than all the previous presidents combined.

On issues of national security and based on constitutional grounds, the Bush statements say the president reserves the right to revise, interpret or disregard measures.

Michael Greco, the ABA's outgoing president states, "The constitution says the president has two choices: either sign the bill or veto it. And if you sign it, you can't have your hand behind your back with your fingers crossed,"

Congress has been urged by the bar delegates to require the president to promptly submit copies of any signing statements, along with a report giving the legal basis for his objections. In addition, it was proposed that Congress create a system allowing the courts to review any presidential claim regarding his authority to disregard a law, decline to enforce a law that he signs or to interpret the law differing from Congressional intent.

A bill was submitted last month by Senator Arlen Specter (R-Pa) seeking to ensure that signing statements aren't used to veto parts of bills or rewrite legislation.

Breaking Legal News.com
Sheryl M. Jones
Staff Writer

The city attorney's office is deciding whether to file charges against Paris Hilton after her arrest last week on suspicion of drunk driving, a spokesman said Tuesday.

The Los Angeles Police Department has submitted to the city attorney's office its case against the 25-year-old hotel heiress, and lawyers will review the case to determine whether to prosecute, said Nick Velasquez, a spokesman for the city attorney's office.

"We will submit our decision by the Sept. 28 arraignment date," he said.

Hilton was arrested Sept. 7 in Hollywood after officers stopped her for driving erratically. Police said her blood-alcohol level was 0.08 percent, which is the legal limit in California.

Penalties for a first drunken-driving offense typically include a fine, probation, an alcohol-rehabilitation program, license suspension and other conditions such as community service, Velasquez said.

Hilton is the star of "The Simple Life" reality show and recently launched a music career with last month's release of her CD, "Paris."

The Associated Press
LOS ANGELES

Celebrity Paris Hilton was arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence early Thursday after "driving erratically" and failing a field sobriety test, police said. The DUI charge would be a misdemeanor. Hilton has been released on her own recognizance and is scheduled to appear in court at the end of the month, at which time she will learn if she will be charged. Elliot Mintz, Hilton's publicist, said Hilton was not intoxicated. He said she had "had one drink" and hadn't eaten all day, and the field sobriety test showed "the very absolute lowest reading you can possibly get to warrant being taken in." Mintz said sister Nicky Hilton and Nicky's boyfriend, actor Kevin Connolly of TV's "Entourage," picked Paris up at the police station in Hollywood, according to The Associated Press.

WASHINGTON — (USDOJ)  A San Juan attorney was sentenced to serve 33 months in prison for obstruction of justice in relation to federal investigations involving a kickback scheme to defraud a fast food chain operator, the Justice Department announced today. The attorney was also sentenced to 120 hours of unpaid community service and three years of supervised release.

Eugenio A. Guardiola Ramirez (Guardiola) was sentenced today in U.S. District Court in Puerto Rico by Judge Hector Laffitte for his involvement in a conspiracy to obstruct justice and obstruction of justice in connection with federal investigations by the U.S. General Services Administration, Office of Inspector General (GSA-OIG), and a federal grand jury into a kickback scheme to defraud Tricon Restaurants International. Tricon, which was recently purchased by Encanto Restaurants, owns and operates fast food restaurants in Puerto Rico.

“The Antitrust Division will hold accountable those who seek to impede the federal investigative and judicial process,” said Thomas O. Barnett, Assistant Attorney General in charge of the Department’s Antitrust Division. “Today’s sentence demonstrates that commitment.” Guardiola was indicted on Jan. 11, 2006 and convicted on March 22, 2006 for his role in the conspiracy. The indictment charged that Guardiola attempted to conceal the true nature of the kickback payments by attempting to persuade witnesses to provide false information about the kickback payments to the grand jury and the GSA-OIG. The indictment also charged that Guardiola drafted a phony services contract to conceal the true nature of the kickback payments.

Between March and May 2004 Guardiola interfered with and obstructed the GSA-OIG and federal grand jury investigations into illegal kickback payments made by his clients, Gate Engineering Corporation, an electrical contractor, and its president, Albith Colón, to Jorge Luis Matos Burgos (Matos), then a Tricon employee, the Department said.

On May 19, 2005, Gate and Colón pleaded guilty to conspiring to commit mail fraud in connection with the scheme to defraud Tricon and to making illegal kickback payments to Matos in exchange for Matos awarding Gate more than $1 million worth of electrical contracts on behalf of Tricon. Gate and Colón are awaiting sentencing.

On Aug. 18, 2005, Matos was convicted at trial of the same charge and on November 15, 2005, he was sentenced to serve 12 months and one day in jail and two years of supervised release.

Anyone with information concerning bid rigging or kickbacks in Puerto Rico should contact the Atlanta Office of the Department of Justice, Antitrust Division at 404-331-7100.