Athens commissioner’s DUI case resolved by plea deal

By Joe Johnson

An Athens-Clarke County commissioners’s DUI case that had been pending for nearly two years was resolved last week as the result of a plea bargain.

Ovita Thornton pleaded no contest to reckless driving in return for the dismissal of improper driving and leaving the scene of an accident charges.

The offense to which she pleaded wasn’t even one of those for which she had been arrested.

In September the county solicitor general’s office filed an amended accusation that did not include a

DUI charge, but it charged Thornton with reckless driving for operating a vehicle “in reckless disregard for the safety of persons and property after consuming alcohol.”

The 72-year-old commissioner was arrested in February 2023 after her car struck a utility pole on West Hancock Avenue while on the way home from a restaurant where she admittedly had consumed alcohol.

She did not submit to breath or blood tests, but in the arresting officer’s opinion the totality of circumstances pointed toward the probability she was intoxicated.

Thornton did agree to have a blood sample drawn at the hospital, and the Athens-Clarke County Police Department sent the sample to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation’s forensics laboratory to be tested for the presence of prescription drugs. The lab returned a toxicology report indicating that no drugs were detected.

The police did not ask for the blood to be tested for alcohol.

It was on the basis of the toxicology report that defense attorney Douglas Lenhardt argued for dismissal of the DUI charge and the amended accusation was subsequently filed.

For her plea of no contest to reckless driving Thornton was sentenced to 12 months of probation, court records indicate, and she was asssed fines and fees totaling $675.