Mary Favazza thanks the jurors for a pass on her 6th DUI.

[Unamused Cat]

A Gloucester mother of two was cleared of drunken driving charges yesterday by a jury, some of whose members expressed frustration with what they believed were holes in the prosecution's case.

Mary Favazza, 47, walked out of court, thanking two jurors she passed in a hallway. The not-guilty verdict spares her a minimum mandatory two-year jail term — because had she been convicted it would have been for the sixth time.

That long history of drunken driving was kept from Salem District Court jurors — under the rules of evidence in Massachusetts it would have been considered prejudicial — though two jurors interviewed after the trial said they did wonder why Favazza had been driving on a restricted license.

Favazza was arrested two days before Christmas 2007 and spent the holidays in jail after Danvers police saw her sitting in a parked and damaged minivan with two flat tires outside Wal-Mart on Route 114 in Danvers. They arrested her after a series of field sobriety tests and, back at the station, a breath test showed a blood-alcohol level of .15, almost double the legal limit of 0.08.

http://www.gloucestertimes.com/punew...yword=topstory

Bah...

[Dakota Valkyrie]

Favazza's defense: she was out Christmas shopping for her kids, struck a curb while trying to dislodge a bottle from under a pedal, then started drinking vodka and orange juice while waiting for a tow truck to arrive in the parking lot.

Everyone should have a screwdriver in their car. But not THAT kind.

I worked in a bar out in lake country that was near a dangerous curve. Folks that wrecked on the curve always came in and started chugging drinks to cover the fact that they had been drinking before the accident.

The article does point out a lot of the flaws in the case... even though she was probably guilty.

Hope her next trip to the Wal-Mart doesn't result in a deadly crash.

[Jaded]

They'll regret that free pass after she kills someone.....