Judges Commonly Return
Licenses To Drunk
Drivers
It's good to have
friends in high places.
Just ask Mayid Martínez
Calvo, head of human
resources at the Consejo
de Seguridad Vial (Cosevi),
who got his drivers
license back after it
was confiscated when
found to be driving
under the influence.
Calvo was surprised by
the Tránsito police
around 3:00am on April
12 when he was driving
drunk in the area of the
Parque Morazán in
downtown San José. He
tried to get away by
sneaking into the
Holiday Inn and had to
be dragged out by police
and hotel security.
The public official said
that he was distraught
because of a Sala IV
court ordered has
suspended him for 15
days and refused an
breathalyzer test.
However, on May 30,
judge Ricardo Baltodano
Reyes, ordered that
Calvo be returned his
drivers license and
absolved him of all
charges.
Calvo is not an isolated
case where a judge oders
the return of a drivers
license to a drunk
driver. The mayor of
Garabito, Marvin
Elizondo Cordero, is
just another example of
being nabbed by traffic
police for drunk
driving, in this case,
driving drunk after a
concert in Jacó.
Germán Marín, director
of the Policía de
Tránsito, of the average
320 drivers licenses his
officers confiscate each
month, 64 of them are
returned to their owners
by a judges order,
notwithstanding that
there is proof of a
breathalyzer test to
support the charges. |
