After losing his spot as the top Republican in the Rhode Island House of Representatives, tests show Robert Watson wasn’t legally drunk when he was recently stopped in Connecticut.
On April 22, an East Haven police officer stopped him at a checkpoint on Route 80 and a breath test at the scene showed he had a blood alcohol concentration at 0.05 percent - the legal limit in Connecticut is 0.08 percent, reports the New Haven Register.
Now results of a urine test show the sample was 0.02 percent higher than in that earlier breath test, according to the paper, but beneath the state's legal limit for driving.
Deputy Chief John Mannion told the paper he believed that, for court purposes, the blood alcohol concentration measured by the breath test is the standard.
Less than two weeks after being charged with driving under the influence and possession of marijuana, Watson was stripped of his minority leader post.
Watson issued a statement after the arrest saying the DUI charge was one “I vehemently deny.”
Records show he acknowledged that “trace evidence of marijuana was discovered,” but said he was “confident I was a safe and sober operator.”
