Posted by DUI attorney Nick Alcock
Looks like another official has a black sheep in the family. The brother of a Kentucky Attorney General was arrested for a DUI offense after being pulled over for a traffic violation. Matthew Conway was arrested and charged after failing field sobriety tests and generally smelling of booze. At least his brother might know a good DUI attorney.
Here’s the problem with being a public official these days. Not only are you held (rightly so) to a very high standard, but if your family member of girlfriend is arrested, then it makes the news. Here I am in Arizona, learning about this case in Kentucky.
Is there really something newsworthy about this situation. Every day hundreds of people–probably thousands of people–are charged with DUIs. DUI attorneys handle cases in all 50 states, believe me. So what is so important about this case? Nobody was killed. Nobody was injured.
Sounds like a case of schadenfreude to me. People love to revel in the misfortune in others. When it comes to public officials, however, we revel in the misfortune of their family members. Now it is true that we should keep an eye on our public officials. I could see how it would be a story if a sitting attorney general was related to gang member or a mafia boss. But, come on, a DUI? This really isn’t news. Now I’m slightly embarrassed that I am writing about it.
In any case, the press routinely forgets about the presumption of innocence. Presumed Innocent, by the way, is an excellent movie. But I digress. There also is a cost when the press is all over the story of a person’s arrest. That person’s reputation is damaged. And in this case, the reputation of the attorney general is damaged by association.
I have no problems seeing criminally investment bankers perp-walked when the evidence is overwhelming and the crime is spectacular. But the brother of an attorney general getting pulled over for a DUI? Come on. The least the press could do is wait until he hires a DUI attorney at least.
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