24 hours before the trial was set to begin, a judge ruled the Paul Campbell's DUI charge was flawed. The senator was denied his constitutional right to a blood test. Campbell was not at the hearing but we caught up with him at the state capital.
All charges against Senator Campbell were dismissed including the DUI and charge of giving false information.
The judge said the senator was not afforded the right to a blood test that could have proven his innocence.
Andy Savage, Senator Paul Campbell's lawyer said, “Our argument was that that would have helped us if you go back and look at the film or look at the transcript, you will see over and over again there was a discussion about the inadequacies of the breathalyzer machine and that’s why Mr. Campbell wanted a blood test.”
The DUI charge stems from a car accident last November. Troopers said Campbell rear ended another car on I-26. There was confusion about who was behind the wheel at the time of the accident.
Campbell's wife said she was driving. Troopers disagreed.
Highway patrol said Mr. Campbell failed the field sobriety tests.Troopers said the senator blew .09 on the breath analyzer test. .01 is over the limit. This is when the senator asked for a blood test.
Today the judge sided with Campbell's defense. He said he dismissed the DUI because the senator was denied due process rights when the trooper refused to give him a blood test.
We spoke to Senator Campbell Wednesday night in Columbia, and he said he was delighted with the outcome but balked at the idea of any special treatment because of his high profile positions.
Senator Campbell said after what he went through there is no way anyone could call his experience special treatment. He pointed out that the judge hearing the case was brought in from another county to avoid any appearance of impropriety.
We heard from the group, Mothers Against Drunk Driving (M.A.D.D.) tonight regarding Senator Campbell's DUI dismissal. They stated:
"This ruling, like so many others in South Carolina, reinforces how difficult it is to prosecute a DUI offense and why lawmakers must continue to refine the drunk driving law to ensure those who make the deadly choice to drive drunk are held accountable and responsible for their careless actions."