Judge denies move to suppress evidence in assemblyman’s DUI case

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Assemblyman Roger Hernandez (D-West Covina) appeared in court Wednesday to face charges of drunken driving, and a judge rejected a defense request to exclude evidence based on the claim that it was collected without just cause.

With the motion denied by Contra Costa County Superior Court Judge Mary Ann O’Malley, jury selection began and is expected to resume Thursday morning at the Martinez courthouse, according to Bobbi Spinola, a spokeswoman for the Contra Costa County district attorney’s office.

Hernandez was arrested at 2 a.m. on March 27 by Concord police officers who saw his state car weaving between lanes. The officer said that Hernandez’s eyes were bloodshot and that he smelled alcohol in the car when it was pulled into the parking lot of the Crowne Plaza Hotel.

Despite the denial of the motion to suppress, all the news was not bad for Hernandez on Wednesday.

Assembly Speaker John Pérez (D-Los Angeles) announced Wednesday that he was promoting Hernandez to majority whip from assistant majority whip as part of a widescale reorganization of the Assembly.

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--Patrick McGreevy in Sacramento