Judge: Youngblood must test more often
Former legislator won’t get jail time
Monica Youngblood, a former state representative convicted of drunken driving last year, will face more frequent drug and alcohol testing but won’t be sent to jail, a judge ruled during a probation violation hearing Wednesday morning.
Youngblood, 42, appeared before ProTem Judge Kevin Fitzwater in Metropolitan Court Wednesday morning. Youngblood in October was sentenced to a day in jail and one year of probation after being found guilty of aggravated drunken driving. She was arrested in May at a sobriety checkpoint after she refused to take a Breathalyzer test.
As a condition of her probation, she is prohibited from using drugs and alcohol and must submit to regular testing. A court official said that two of Youngblood’s recent tests were invalid because the sample was too diluted.
She had passed several tests both before and after the questionable tests, according to court testimony.
Youngblood said in court that she had been drinking large amounts of water as part of a diet that allowed her to eat food between 4 p.m. and 8 p.m. only each day, and she was drinking water and exercising regularly.
Fitzwater said Youngblood will now have to take one drug and alcohol test each week for the next six weeks. She will also be on a new drug and alcohol testing system that will require her to take more frequent tests at random.
“You power slam water, you can mess with a sample. These conditions are what is keeping you out of jail,” Fitzwater said. “Now is not the time to be doing this diet.”