Callaway County sheriff pleads not guilty at first hearing in DWI case
HUNTSVILLE, Mo. (KMIZ)
Callaway County Sheriff Clay Chism pleaded not guilty to misdemeanor charges of driving while intoxicated and resisting arrest at his first court appearance Monday in Randolph County.
Randolph County Prosecuting Attorney Stephanie Luntsford charged Chism last week after the sheriff posted a $2,000 bond on Oct. 6, the day of his arrest, according to online court records.
Chism appeared Monday with his lawyer Travis Noble, of Clayton, Missouri. Judge James Cooksey set another hearing to decide the case for 10:30 am. Jan. 23. The court has put a stay on the revocation of Chism's driver's license for allegedly refusing an alcohol test, according to court records.
A probable cause statement filed Thursday says Chism was asleep in his pickup truck at a Moberly Arby's when an officer came up to his truck and a puddle of vomit was on the ground outside the driver-side door. An open bottle of "Mike's Harder Lemonade" was in the center console, the officer wrote. He had to be shaken awake, according to the probable cause statement.
"There is nothing illegal about sitting in your vehicle with it off waiting for someone and have a drink." Noble said.
Court documents also alleged Chism crashed his truck into a concrete barrier but Noble says the charges don't align with the probable cause statement.
"I've seen so many police reports that make statements that later turn out not to be true," Noble said. "I noticed they don't charge him with leaving the scene of an accident and they don't charge him with property damage and they don't charge him with anything to do with this allege concrete median being stuck."
The statement says Chism refused to get out of the vehicle when commanded and resisted the officers who pulled him out. He smelled like alcohol, his speech was slurred and he was staggering, the statement said.
Noble says they are anticipating the case going to trial, but he says the state won't be able to prove the sheriff was drinking and driving.
"Nowhere in the probable cause statement does it say that the truck was running or that it was on or that anybody saw the sheriff drive the truck even," Noble said.
Chism's lawyer told ABC 17 News last month that Chism was sitting in a car with the engine off and having a drink while he waited for someone to pick him up. The lawyer said police did not request a blood test.
