Official blames 2nd car
Councilwoman faces DUI charge, says other vehicle caused crash
By Schuyler Kropf
Morinelli
A day after being charged with driving under the influence, Charleston City Councilwoman Deborah Morinelli said Saturday another vehicle caused the accident.
Morinelli, 54, was released from the county jail on a personal recognizance bond Saturday. The two-term councilwoman, who represents parts of the city's West Ashley suburbs, was charged following a single-vehicle traffic accident Friday afternoon on S.C. Highway 61, according to a report. No one was injured.
At 1:30 p.m., the vehicle she was driving left the road and ran into a ditch. Police arrived to find her seated on the ground, the incident report states. She "kept falling over on her back," the report states.
When asked by police if she'd been drinking, she answered: "I had two bottles of wine."
More wine was found in the car, according to the report. On Saturday during a brief phone conversation with The Post and Courier, Morinelli described them as minibottles.
Morinelli said Saturday a car in the middle of the two-lane road caused the wreck. She said she didn't want the story "blown out of proportion."
Morinelli was transported to the Medical University of South Carolina on Friday because of "her inability to reason," the report states. She was charged with driving under the influence and with having an open container.
At MUSC, a blood test was taken because more than the two hours allowable that covers a breath sample had passed, the report said. Results were not immediately available. She also told police she had been at an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting that day. The report also states she said she hadn't eaten lunch.
Morinelli spent the night in the Charleston County Detention Center. A bond hearing was held in front of a city judge Saturday morning. She was released on a personal recognizance bond by Associate Municipal Judge Steve Steinert, which is the common procedure for someone facing a first driving under the influence charge — a misdemeanor, he said.
Morinelli represents District 2, a large section of West Ashley that includes neighborhoods around Bees Ferry Road, Interstate 526, the Stono River and S.C. 61. The city's next election is in November and she was not expected to run again.
Charleston Mayor Joe Riley said Morinelli came to council as a grass-roots neighborhood council leader. He called her a "great member of City Council."
Other members of council and city staff could fill in on some of her responsibilities, Riley said. "I think she's obviously earned the chance to take some time off," Riley said.
Reach Schuyler Kropf at skropf@postandcourier.com or 937-5551.
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reality_woman (anonymous) says...
Come on now, do you really think that we believe that another vehicle is to blame here?
She was at an AA meeting but drank two mini bottles of wine and had more in her car. This woman is a fine example of an idiot in a government office. She is a disgrace to the community she represents and should be relieved of her duties ASAP. Next time she may hurt or kill someone.
June 28, 2009 at 12:44 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
RalphieParker (anonymous) says...
Lets put things into perspective. There's all kinds of heat coming down on Sanford for having an affair. Then you got this broad getting trashed and driving drunk. More people are killed each year as a result of DUI related crashes than any other type of offense. So wouldn't her putting peoples lives at risk be a bigger issue than an affair which puts no lives at risk?
If there was another vehicle a sober person could have probably avoided a crash altogether. Way to go lady, I'm sure the cops are just "blowing this out of proportion." I mean really, whats such a big deal about driving drunk and crashing your car into a ditch.
June 28, 2009 at 2:19 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
Neponset (anonymous) says...
Don't think wine comes in "mini bottles" - there are small bottles (187ml - about a glass full) that come in a 4 packs. If this lady was falling down drunk, she must of had more than two glasses of wine.
June 28, 2009 at 3:51 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
louieabaker (anonymous) says...
Just another liberal blaming someone else for their troubles. If Riley had any guts he would call for her to resign, instead of giving her time off.
June 28, 2009 at 4:37 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
whalernut (anonymous) says...
Morinelli spent the night in the Charleston County Detention Center. A bond hearing was held in front of a city judge Saturday morning. She was released on a personal recognizance bond by Associate Municipal Judge Steve Steinert, which is the common procedure for someone facing a first driving under the influence charge - a misdemeanor, he said.
Hey everyone has a little infraction from time to time.
Live and Let Live is what I say.
June 28, 2009 at 4:57 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
rednose (anonymous) says...
Probably just found out Sanford was married
June 28, 2009 at 5:43 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
GAL2000 (anonymous) says...
Like Judge Mendels..., she will only receive a letter, and no other repremand. What gets me is, she blames everything on something else, i.e. AA meeting, another vehicle, no lunch that day, it is too many excuses. The fines are now high to pay, and that is probably the least of her worries. Maybe the campaign money that may be left over will cover the costs of the ticket to the tax-payers. At least Judge M. when he was charged admitted to what he did was wrong, and did not blame others or something. I will give him credit for that, but not for what his boss Mayor Riley handed down to him. And further, how the SC Courts handled it where he did not get suspended, verses the recent P&C news stories on the Magistrate who was found NOT-GUILTY after awaiting for over one-year for a jury trial that found him not-guilty, and he was suspended from the bench, and now must be reinstated, and repair his image and reputation. Its not easy being labeled and wearing a tag, especially when you are found not-guilty be a JURY!
June 28, 2009 at 6 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
potholes (anonymous) says...
What a mugshot, yikes! I would love to see the police car video of her falling over in the ditch repeatedly, "Bad boys, bad boys, whatcha gonna do..." Next thing she will blame it on is an inner ear infection and global warming.
June 28, 2009 at 6:16 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
spengler (anonymous) says...
may have been at an aa meet, but she either went out or is not yet sick and tired of being sick and tired. She might try rehab...
June 28, 2009 at 6:28 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
MC29461 (anonymous) says...
In this day and time, politicians and celebrities all seem to place the blame on someone else and it is never their fault for anything including their vote choices.
This is probably just a sign of the times we are now living in that personal accountability has gone the way of the Dodo Bird so we should not have been surprised by this latest revelation that someone else caused her to get into a wreck.
She too must think her voters a foolish enough to believe her sordid tale. It is time for her to lead by example and move on to another career.
June 28, 2009 at 6:44 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
billyjoejimbob (anonymous) says...
Occifer, I had two mini (TOO MANY) bottles of wine....or is it whine???
June 28, 2009 at 7:56 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
seneca264 (anonymous) says...
Just more of the same failed leadership from the tax and spend Riley cabal. What else is new?
June 28, 2009 at 7:56 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
issuetaker (anonymous) says...
Charleston Mayor Joe Riley said Morinelli came to council as a grass-roots neighborhood council leader. He called her a "great member of City Council."
Now, just who's judgement is to be questioned with that statement?
June 28, 2009 at 7:57 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
issuetaker (anonymous) says...
"I think she's obviously earned the chance to take some time off," Riley said.
Hey, boss, you said I was out of personal leave time but I'm snockered and got caught for DUI. Does that give me the chance to take some time off like that councilwoman? What's that, only politicians and judges can break laws and keep their positions? OH!
June 28, 2009 at 8:04 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
scottmcx (anonymous) says...
Are they sure she was just drunk?
See this>>
Her mug shot sure looks a lot like one of these! YUK!
June 28, 2009 at 8:15 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
20lbtest (anonymous) says...
That web-site is creepy... and not too far fetched! We all pass people like that everyday, and don't recognize it...
How many of you could get away with her lame excuse? She may be destined for higher office ;)
June 28, 2009 at 8:38 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
Tides (anonymous) says...
Remember when SC Supreme Court Chief Justice Jean Toal was driving drunk, crashed into another vehicle, and got completely off the hook? She was returning home from a SC Bar Association meeting. I would not be surprised if she still drives from time to time under the influence.
I have heard of a few circuit court judges that consume alchohol - and perhaps operate a motor vehicle afterwards.
June 28, 2009 at 8:40 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
TheTruthFighter (anonymous) says...
Public office meaning higher standards and ethics = She crossed the line - She should resign.
June 28, 2009 at 9:18 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
GAL2000 (anonymous) says...
Tides, oh do I ever so recall that incident, video, and story about Justice Toal.
June 28, 2009 at 10:04 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
cabgx2 (anonymous) says...
Officer I had to drive, I was too drunk to walk.
June 28, 2009 at 10:28 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
WSM (anonymous) says...
I am sorry that she has a substance abuse problem, but that doesn't relieve her from obeying the law and having a greater standard of conduct.
She is a city councilwoman. She creates and drafts laws for all to follow. That includes her. Nothing in the SC or US Constitutions exempt elected officials from this. There is NO nobility, although the "better than you" leftists around the country today think so.
I hate the fact that she has a problem, but that does not make it ok because "she has a problem." Would you want your kids' teacher to be held to that standard if he "had a problem" with pedophilia? What if your mailman "had a problem" with theft? Or, your Governor "had a problem" with adultery...oh, wait...yeah, he just joins the panoply of the rest of the "other guys:" Gary Hart, Ted Kennedy, John F. Kennedy, Bill Clinton, et al.
Bottom line, we the people put this person in office. We the people should remove her. If you hate the way your government...and the nation it is dragging with it...is going into the toilet, then look at yourself in the mirror before you make that next boneheaded decision to put a dolt in office.
June 28, 2009 at 10:35 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
ForPnC (anonymous) says...
"Official blames 2nd car"
How's about the official blame herself? Damned drunk drivers get what they deserve. I have no pity for any of them.
Congratulations to the police for getting another potential murderer off the roads!
June 28, 2009 at 10:37 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
mb300sl (anonymous) says...
It's a lot easier to take a taxi or have someone drive you home...smarter too! I'll bet the charges get pled down...the "good old boy" (gal in this case)system is alive and well.
June 28, 2009 at 11:30 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
Liberals_Are_Maroons (anonymous) says...
"I think she's obviously earned the chance to take some time off," Riley said.
*************************************************************
Yeah, permanently.
June 28, 2009 at 12:51 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
Robdawg30 (anonymous) says...
The story really sounds like that of a typical alcoholic. She had the standard answer of two drinks and blames everything but herself for the accident. She takes no responsibility for the fact that she had been drinking and driving and shouldnt have been. Maybe had she not been intoxicated, she would have been able to respond better and not had the accident. Also, if she was at an A.A. meeting, you dont end up there by accident...she is an alcoholic! Get the help you need before you have an accident and take someones life! PLEASE!
June 28, 2009 at 2:30 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
PoliGadfly (anonymous) says...
A.A. meeting huh? Guess she had to have a drink after all she'd been through there.
June 28, 2009 at 4:03 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
ChasMagnolia (anonymous) says...
She can regularly be seen driving all over the road in her district. This is nothing new. She almost took my front fender off the other day when she ran a stop sign. Thanks to the cops for arresting her. Get her off the road!
Guilty!
June 28, 2009 at 4:51 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
JustJennings (anonymous) says...
There is no doubt that driving after having too much to drink was wrong, but there may have been another car, or this could be a fabrication to shift blame. We don't really know for sure. I do admire her for standing up for the interests of the people in her district that I have witnessed at City Council meetings. If she has a problem, I hope she gets the help she needs. Those who are so quick to judge should know the Charleston Police lie on a regular basis. When I complained the first time about an officer illegally parking in a handicapped space, they gave THREE different stories. They could not have ALL been true.
June 28, 2009 at 6:57 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
wonderdog (anonymous) says...
So - there is ALWAYS a good excuse to drive drunk, and there is always another vehicle to blame.......we call those "phantom vehicles".
Wow.....drunk at 1:30 on a Friday afternoon and found with an open container. Maybe some in-patient rehab would work better than an AA meeting.
June 28, 2009 at 8:08 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
jeg111 (anonymous) says...
It was 1;30 in the afternoon...lots of people were on 61. You are right about one thing... there was another car. It was stopped, in its lane and making a left onto Plainview, you became impatient and attempted to go around the car and wound up in the ditch. You are typical of an addict...always blaming someone else. Guess what..no one poured that wine down your throat..hope you get your life together and stop being a threat to other lives.
June 28, 2009 at 8:13 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
MisWesaMoves (anonymous) says...
She is obviously an alcoholic still playing the "blame game". Very distressing to hear that she publically announced that she was at an AA meeting earlier that day. Anyone seriously working "the program" understands the meaning of the ANONYMOUS part of the program. She needs treatment and fast before she takes her own life or some other innocent person's.
June 29, 2009 at 8:44 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
RedHorse7 (anonymous) says...
billyjoejimbob > LMOA - that was funny !
June 29, 2009 at 11:22 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
brian_schaffer (anonymous) says...
I find it funny reading all of the comments. What is that saying "people in glass houses shouldn't throw stones? All of you people bashing this official I would bet have been behind the wheel of a car when you have had too much to drink. I would bet over 90% of you on this forum have drank to much and drove. So look yourself in the mirror people before you are quick to pass judgement. She obviously has an issue and bashing her will do no good. Say a prayer and hope she gets help. Lead by example instead of pointing the finger.
July 2, 2009 at 4:48 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
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