County Administrator Joe Baird’s DUI case set for trial next week

By Lisa ZahnerVERO BEACH — In a hearing Wednesday in the DUI case of County Administrator Joe Baird, Judge David Morgan upheld the validity of the May 16 traffic stop which led to Baird’s arrest. Jury selection will begin Monday and the case is expected to go to trial Tuesday or Wednesday.Baird’s attorney Bobby Guttridge had filed a motion to suppress the stop by the Vero Beach Police Department and, should that have been successful, any evidence gained from it would have also been unusable by the prosecution. Two Vero Beach police officers, Lt. Thomas “Matt” Harrelson, who made the initial traffic stop, and Officer Jeff Bryson, who conducted the roadside sobriety tests and made the arrest, testified during the hearing. The officers were cross-examined by Guttridge, using aerial photographs and maps of Indian River Boulevard and 21st Street, also known as Miracle Mile, where the stop occured at 10:26 p.m. that Saturday. Other motions denied by Judge Morgan were a request that statements made by Baird as to his intended destination that night, the Long Branch Saloon, and how he had spent the afternoon prior to the arrest be inadmissable, and that documentation of certain roadside sobriety tests also be inadmissable due to Guttridge’s argument that Baird was in custody at the time. Judge Morgan did agree to take special care instructing members of the potential jury pool and isolating them for questioning, if necessary, on a case-by-case basis, to prevent their answers to questions regarding knowledge of the case affecting the opinions of other jurors. This was in response to concerns that Guttridge had about the pervasive media coverage of the case and the potenial difficulty in finding impartial jurors. Guttridge had asked to interview every juror separately, but the court felt the goal could be accomplished without this measure.A determination has not yet been made as to whether the video of a particular roadside sobriety test would be redacted from the video entered into evidence, so Assistant State Attorney David Dodd was instructed to be prepared to show the video to the jury with or without that portion.

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