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Judge: Only feds, not state, can try pilots on drunk charge
A federal judge on Tuesday ruled the state does not have authority to prosecute two America West pilots for trying to fly 124 passengers from Miami to Phoenix while they were allegedly intoxicated.
The ruling, however, does not prevent U.S. prosecutors from filing similar charges, though they would face a tougher challenge because of a higher federal standard for drunkenness while operating a commercial jet.
The pilots had blood-alcohol readings above the state's standard of .08 percent, but below the federal guideline of .10 percent.
U.S. District Judge Patricia Seitz said federal law trumps state statutes in cases involving interstate commerce such as cross-country air travel -- unless the pilots caused loss of life, injury or property damage.
The pilot, Thomas Cloyd, 45, and copilot, Christopher Hughes, 42, were removed from their cockpit before takeoff on July 1, 2002, without causing any harm to passengers or property. They were later fired by the airline.
A spokesman for the Miami-Dade state attorney's office said it will contest Seitz's ruling to the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta.
If the appeal fails, federal prosecutors said they will consider whether to pursue intoxication charges against the two pilots.
OTHER EVIDENCE
If new charges are filed, the defense could show the pilots' Breathalyzer results fell below federal criminal standards. But U.S. prosecutors could present other potentially incriminating evidence to prove the pilots were impaired before they boarded America West Flight 566 at Miami International Airport.
''Obviously, if you don't have the presumption of drunkenness, your case is a little tougher,'' said Miami lawyer Joel Perwin, an appellate expert. ``You have to find additional evidence that they were impaired, including wobbling or slurring of speech.''
There appears to be plenty of investigative evidence suggesting the two pilots were impaired as they prepared to fly from Miami to Phoenix.
SECURITY CHECK
The pilots first drew attention after alarmed MIA security screeners said Hughes and Cloyd tried to carry cups of coffee through a security checkpoint -- which violated new security rules imposed after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
The screeners told police that the pilots smelled of alcohol, had flushed faces and bloodshot and watery eyes. They notified Miami-Dade police, which patrols the county-run airport.
Sgt. John Methvin notified the control tower, which ordered the pilots to return to the gate.
After the two were escorted off the plane, police asked them about the smell of alcohol on their breath. Hughes explained it was ''merely mouthwash,'' according to a police report.
Police read the pilots their rights against self-incrimination, and then asked them how much alcohol they had drunk the night before their morning flight.
The pilots said they drank pints of draft beer at Moe's in Coconut Grove. Cloyd said he didn't know many he had consumed, but that it was ''too many,'' according to an investigator's notation. Hughes told police he had consumed ''many'' pints.
Officers asked the pilots to take a field sobriety test. The two did, and failed. They then were taken to an airport station for a Breathalyzer test about two hours after being taken off the plane.
ALCOHOL LEVELS
Cloyd's blood-alcohol reading was .091 and Hughes' was .084, police said. Those figures are above state criminal standards.
Federal Aviation Administration regulations prohibit pilots from operating an aircraft within eight hours of consuming alcohol or if they have a blood-alcohol level of .04. The pilots allegedly drank beer for six hours at the bar, until seven hours before the flight.
After the judge's ruling on Tuesday, Hughes' attorney, James Rubin, told The Associated Press that his client ''of course was happy.'' Cloyd's attorney was out of the office and not available for comment.
DOMINATES FIELD
Seitz agreed with defense arguments that the federal government has come to dominate the field of commercial aviation through its laws, rules and regulations. She recognized a ''dominant federal interest in uniform, nationwide standards'' for commercial pilots.
But Seitz noted her decision was a ''narrow holding'' based on the circumstances of the pilots' case and did not apply to anything besides regularly scheduled commercial flights.
The FAA stripped the pilots of their commercial licenses. As a bail condition, they were barred from recreational flying as well.
''They're not off scot-free. These are people who no longer have a career, and that's worse probably than prison,'' aviation analyst Mike Boyd of the Boyd Group in Evergreen, Colo., told the AP. ``Their punishment is that their careers are over, and that's pretty severe.''
A federal judge on Tuesday ruled the state does not have authority to prosecute two America West pilots for trying to fly 124 passengers from Miami to Phoenix while they were allegedly intoxicated.
The ruling, however, does not prevent U.S. prosecutors from filing similar charges, though they would face a tougher challenge because of a higher federal standard for drunkenness while operating a commercial jet.
The pilots had blood-alcohol readings above the state's standard of .08 percent, but below the federal guideline of .10 percent.
U.S. District Judge Patricia Seitz said federal law trumps state statutes in cases involving interstate commerce such as cross-country air travel -- unless the pilots caused loss of life, injury or property damage.
The pilot, Thomas Cloyd, 45, and copilot, Christopher Hughes, 42, were removed from their cockpit before takeoff on July 1, 2002, without causing any harm to passengers or property. They were later fired by the airline.
A spokesman for the Miami-Dade state attorney's office said it will contest Seitz's ruling to the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta.
If the appeal fails, federal prosecutors said they will consider whether to pursue intoxication charges against the two pilots.
OTHER EVIDENCE
If new charges are filed, the defense could show the pilots' Breathalyzer results fell below federal criminal standards. But U.S. prosecutors could present other potentially incriminating evidence to prove the pilots were impaired before they boarded America West Flight 566 at Miami International Airport.
''Obviously, if you don't have the presumption of drunkenness, your case is a little tougher,'' said Miami lawyer Joel Perwin, an appellate expert. ``You have to find additional evidence that they were impaired, including wobbling or slurring of speech.''
There appears to be plenty of investigative evidence suggesting the two pilots were impaired as they prepared to fly from Miami to Phoenix.
SECURITY CHECK
The pilots first drew attention after alarmed MIA security screeners said Hughes and Cloyd tried to carry cups of coffee through a security checkpoint -- which violated new security rules imposed after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
The screeners told police that the pilots smelled of alcohol, had flushed faces and bloodshot and watery eyes. They notified Miami-Dade police, which patrols the county-run airport.
Sgt. John Methvin notified the control tower, which ordered the pilots to return to the gate.
After the two were escorted off the plane, police asked them about the smell of alcohol on their breath. Hughes explained it was ''merely mouthwash,'' according to a police report.
Police read the pilots their rights against self-incrimination, and then asked them how much alcohol they had drunk the night before their morning flight.
The pilots said they drank pints of draft beer at Moe's in Coconut Grove. Cloyd said he didn't know many he had consumed, but that it was ''too many,'' according to an investigator's notation. Hughes told police he had consumed ''many'' pints.
Officers asked the pilots to take a field sobriety test. The two did, and failed. They then were taken to an airport station for a Breathalyzer test about two hours after being taken off the plane.
ALCOHOL LEVELS
Cloyd's blood-alcohol reading was .091 and Hughes' was .084, police said. Those figures are above state criminal standards.
Federal Aviation Administration regulations prohibit pilots from operating an aircraft within eight hours of consuming alcohol or if they have a blood-alcohol level of .04. The pilots allegedly drank beer for six hours at the bar, until seven hours before the flight.
After the judge's ruling on Tuesday, Hughes' attorney, James Rubin, told The Associated Press that his client ''of course was happy.'' Cloyd's attorney was out of the office and not available for comment.
DOMINATES FIELD
Seitz agreed with defense arguments that the federal government has come to dominate the field of commercial aviation through its laws, rules and regulations. She recognized a ''dominant federal interest in uniform, nationwide standards'' for commercial pilots.
But Seitz noted her decision was a ''narrow holding'' based on the circumstances of the pilots' case and did not apply to anything besides regularly scheduled commercial flights.
The FAA stripped the pilots of their commercial licenses. As a bail condition, they were barred from recreational flying as well.
''They're not off scot-free. These are people who no longer have a career, and that's worse probably than prison,'' aviation analyst Mike Boyd of the Boyd Group in Evergreen, Colo., told the AP. ``Their punishment is that their careers are over, and that's pretty severe.''
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