Snowden

House Speaker Pro Tempore Greg Snowden (R-Meridian) was charged on Thursday with refusal to take a sobriety test following an accident in Meridian. 

Police responded to a call about a driver acting “erratically” on 61st Court and 17th Avenue, followed by a call about an accident without injuries on Windmill Drive and Highway 39 North, according to Meridian Police Chief Benny Dubose. 

Dubose said Snowden had been charged with refusing to take the test after the 3:15 p.m. accident. State law requires that someone convicted of not taking a field sobriety test has their license suspended for 90 days.

In contrast, someone convicted of a DUI may have their license suspended for up to a year, Dubose said. 

Snowden told WLBT that he was headed home from a lunch in Jackson when he rear-ended the other vehicle less than a mile from his home. He said he had one beer at Hal and Mal’s during a Spay and Neuter of Mississippi event.

He said he was watching Twitter updates on the Kavanaugh hearings.

“Very irresponsibly, I was looking at the dang Twitter feed,” Snowden said. 

Police were called and when they arrived, they asked him to walk the line for a sobriety test. Snowden said he had knee surgery and therefore “wobbled all over the place”.

He was asked to take a blood alcohol test at the police department, but declined,  saying every attorney he knows has always mentioned that it’s best to refuse them.

“Maybe that was a mistake, I don’t know,’ Snowden added.

Snowden’s court date is Oct. 8.