Ex-sports anchor has a lot at stake in BAC test
Greg Simmons’ arrest for driving while intoxicated has already cost him dearly.
His 42-year career as sports director and anchor at KSAT is over. He resigned on Monday, saying, “I am grateful for the opportunity this brings to focus on my health and wellness, and what the future will bring.”
That future could depend on what Simmons’ blood alcohol concentration, or BAC, was when a Bexar County sheriff’s deputy arrested him about 3 a.m. Friday on Evans Road on the far North Side.
Simmons, 67, refused to take a breathalyzer test, according to an incident report, so police obtained a warrant to draw his blood for a lab analysis to determine his BAC.
A lot is riding on the result. Blood alcohol concentration is the level of alcohol in a person’s body measured in grams per deciliter. BAC rises when someone drinks faster than the liver can filter out alcohol.
Driving with a BAC of 0.08 or higher is a Class B misdemeanor under the Texas Penal Code, punishable by up to 90 days in jail. At 0.08, a driver is four times more likely to crash than a sober driver, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
Driving with BAC of 0.15 or higher, a level sometimes called “extreme intoxication,” is a more serious offense: a Class A misdemeanor, punishable by up to a year in jail and the loss of driving privileges for 90 days.
At 0.15 or higher, a motorist is at least 12 times more likely to crash than a sober driver.
Those convicted of DWI with a BAC that high must have an ignition interlock device installed on all vehicles they own or operate. The device requires a driver to blow into a breathalyzer for instant testing before the engine will start. The interlock device must be kept on for an entire year after the person’s driving privileges have been restored.
A judge can also make an ignition interlock device a condition of release on bond while a defendant awaits trial.
Simmons was pulled over on Jan. 27 after a sheriff’s deputy saw him driving erratically and drifting between lanes, according to an incident report. The report said the deputy followed Simmons with his lights and siren on for about five minutes
before Simmons pulled over.
Simmons believed he was driving on U.S. 281 and gave the deputy a gold American Express card when asked for his license, according to the report.
Simmons was released on a $1,000 personal recognizance bond. His arraignment hearing is scheduled for Feb. 28.
This is his first DWI arrest, so if his lawyer negotiates a plea agreement, Simmons is likely to be placed on probation. About 75 percent of those charged with a first-offense DWI in Texas were sentenced to probation or community supervision in 2021, according to an Express-news analysis of state court data.
But whether Simmons will escape the stigma of a drunken driving conviction is still to be determined.
Under a policy of the Bexar County District Attorney’s Office that dates to 2008, thousands of DWI defendants have been able to avoid drunken driving convictions by pleading guilty to an alternative offense called “obstructing a highway.” In return, the defendants received probationary sentences.
Motorists who had previous DWI offenses, who had caused accidents or whose BACS were 0.15 or higher were not supposed to be eligible for this deal. But as the Express-news reported in November, many DWI defendants were granted leniency even though they had one of those disqualifying factors.
In response to the paper’s reporting, District Attorney Joe Gonzales imposed tight new restrictions on DWI plea bargains in December and said he would permit no exceptions to the eligibility criteria for the “obstructing a highway” deal.