Todd indicted for DUI, handgun
Incident occurred last autumn in Nashville
NASHVILLE — Veteran state Rep. Curry Todd, R-Collierville, has been indicted by a Davidson County grand jury on charges of driving under the influence and possession of a weapon while under the influence.
The indictments also charge him with violation of the state’s “implied consent” law by refusing to take an alcohol test during a Nashville traffic stop last October.
The indictments were returned Friday, four months after Todd waived his rights to a preliminary hearing and allowing the case to advance to the grand jury. Neither an arraignment nor trial date has been scheduled, according to the Davidson County Criminal Court clerk’s office.
Todd, 64, who was first elected to the Tennessee legislature in 1998, was arrested by Nashville police on the night of Oct. 11 while driving on a busy thoroughfare near Vanderbilt University.
Nashville police said in affidavits that they stopped him after seeing him weaving in traffic. He was taken into custody after a field sobriety test and after police discovered a loaded, holstered .38caliber pistol between the driver’s seat and center console. He has a handgun- carry permit, although state law prohibits permit holders from going armed while intoxicated. His handgun- carry permit will be suspended if he’s convicted.
His attorney, Worrick Robinson Jr., said the indictment “is something we’ve been expecting for some time. We just didn’t know when. It’s all part of the criminal process, so there’s no surprise here.”
Robinson said that after arraignment, “there will be an opportunity to exchange discovery (of evidence) and there will be some additional discussions with the district attorney’s office to determine if this case will go to trial or be settled.”
Todd, a retired Memphis police officer and former president of the Memphis Police Association, referred reporters to his attorney and declined comment. He faces no opposition for election to an eighth two -year term in this year’s legislative elections.
In April, the lawmaker publicly told a House committee that he has a rare slowgrowing form of nonHodgkin lymphoma but that he’s in stage one of the fourstage cancer and it doesn’t affect his legislative duties.
Todd sponsored the controversial 2010 law allowing gun permit holders to go armed into places serving alcohol unless their owners have posted no -gun signs and as long as the permit holder is not drinking.
Contact Nashville Bureau chief Richard Locker at (615) 255-4923.