SALT LAKE CITY — Former Utah Senate Majority Leader Sheldon Killpack was charged Tuesday with driving under the influence.
When he was arrested Jan. 15, Killpack had a blood-alcohol level of 0.11, the charges state. The legal limit for impairment is 0.08.
Killpack, 41, a Syracuse Republican who resigned from the Legislature the day after his arrest, was also charged with failure to signal, a class C misdemeanor, in addition to the class B misdemeanor DUI charge.
Killpack was pulled over by a Utah Highway Patrol trooper in Millcreek near 700 East and 3300 South. The trooper who stopped Killpack had observed a vehicle "with a poor driving pattern," according to UHP Sgt. Jeff Nigbur.
The trooper "detected a strong odor of alcohol coming from the defendant's breath, his speech was slurred, the defendant's balance was poor, and his eyes were bloodshot, glossy and droopy," the charges state.
Killpack "performed poorly" during field sobriety tests administered after he was stopped, and "swayed from side to side during the test," losing his balance twice, the charges state.
The charges were filed in Salt Lake County Municipal Justice Court, and the case has been assigned to Municipal Judge Shauna Graves-Robertson.
Defense attorney Ed Brass said his office has entered a "not guilty" plea on Killpack's behalf.
"We'll do our best to expedite a resolution of the case as rapidly as possible so that Sen. Killpack can return to his life," Brass said. "He's returned to being a private citizen and is entitled to be treated as such."
Killpack had attended a fundraiser for Rep. Greg Hughes, R-Draper, hours before his arrest, but House Speaker Dave Clark, R-Santa Clara, said no alcohol had been served at the event.
The Deseret News learned Tuesday that its appeal for the release of documents related to Killpack's arrest has been denied by Utah Public Safety Commissioner Lance Davenport.
The News, through the Utah Government Records Access and Management Act, has requested copies of the UHP trooper's arrest report and a copy of the video recorded by a dash-mounted camera in the trooper's car during the traffic stop. Those records have been classified as "protected," according to Nigbur, because the case is still pending.
Nigbur said the News' initial records request was denied following a review by the Utah Attorney General's Office. The newspaper appealed the denial on the grounds that the records were improperly classified, but Nigbur said Davenport has denied the appeal.
A spokesman for Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff has said the decision not to release documents and dash-cam video in the case is not indicative of Killpack receiving special treatment.
e-mail: lindat@desnews.com; gliesik@desnews.com