DA drops DUI charges against Las Vegas Constable John Bonaventura

DA drops DUI charges against Las Vegas Constable John Bonaventura

In what may be perceived by some as a “telling” move, it has been announced that the DA drops DUI charges against Las Vegas Constable John Bonaventura.

The Constable was arrested on February 12, for DUI. Bonaventura has been very vocal since his arrest alleging that he was set up.  He alleged that county officials, including Board of Commissioners member Chris Giunchigliani, were using the arrest as part of a setup against him and the Constable’s office. He said that the arrest would provide enough reason for the budgetary elimination of the Las Vegas Constable’s Office.

He might be onto something and he may very well have been targeted, although he does have some issues in his background as well.

Shortly after his arrest, the Las Vegas Review Journal (LVRJ), published an unflattering article about Bonaventura and his leadership of the Constable’s office.  The Constable’s office is not part of the county’s general fund budget and the LVRJ reports that he has taken steps to shield his expenditures from prying eyes and it’s all apparently quite legal.

Bonaventure has also come under fire for his office’s questionable hiring practices but the main reason he is under fire is because the Constable’s office is losing money. Lots of it. He says it’s because Constable’s from other jurisdictions, like Henderson, are servicing territory that should be his.

His main nemesis, County Commissioner Chris Giunchigliani has asked for an ordinance change that would abolish the office and that is why Bonaventura believes he was set-up.

Now Steve Wolfson the DA drops DUI charges against Las Vegas Constable John Bonaventura saying that he does does believe his office could prove the Constable’s guilt beyond a reasonable doubt because of the results of the breath test.

Well didn’t the breath test that got him arrested show him as being over the legal limit, you ask?

The answer is supposedly yes. The initial breath test allegedly showed him as being over the limit, however Nevada law does not allow those test results to be admitted in court.

That because the Portable Breath Tests (PBT’s) that officers carry with them are only admissible in court for positive or negative alcohol content, and are not admissible for levels of alcohol.

Once at the police station, an official breath test is administered and the results of those tests show that the Constable had a blood alcohol content (BAC) reading of .069 which is below Nevada’s official limit of impairment of a .08 BAC.

In further explaining the reasons as to why the DA drops DUI charges against Las Vegas Constable John Bonaventura , Wolfson said that the speeding vehicle might have been another constable’s officer vehicle.

Score 1 for Bonaventura.

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