Former council candidate denies DUI, attorney tells court

A Mount Baker public-relations specialist who lost her bid for the Seattle City Council last year after being arrested in 2007, on suspicion of drunken driving, this week is challenging that arrest in a criminal trial.

Venus Velázquez, 42, admits she drank two gin and tonics with dinner after a campaign stop in Ballard on Oct. 17, 2007, but contends she wasn't drunk, said her attorney Bill Bowman. Velázquez was arrested by Seattle police but refused to take a breath test.

"A decision, she'll tell you, she regrets," Bowman said Tuesday during his opening statement in Seattle Municipal Court. "She believes if she had taken the test she would have beaten it."

According to police, Velasquez was driving 50 mph in a 30-mph zone and crossed the center line before she was pulled over.

Velázquez's attorneys have questioned whether Velázquez was treated fairly by police and the Seattle City Attorney's Office because of her candidacy.

During jury selection Tuesday, Municipal Court Judge George Holifield spoke about the publicity surrounding the case and said Velázquez lost her footing as the front-runner in the campaign after her arrest.

Despite the endorsement of the man she sought to replace, Peter Steinbrueck, Velázquez lost the November 2007 election to Bruce Harrell.

Velázquez's case has been in and out of court for 13 months because her lawyers have argued unsuccessfully to have the city attorney's office barred from prosecuting the case after City Attorney Tom Carr had endorsed Harrell in the election. After Velázquez's arrest, Carr said he had recused himself from her case because he knew her and because he had endorsed Harrell.

During the start of testimony, Bowman questioned Seattle police Officer James Ritter over whether he knew who Velázquez was when he pulled up to assist the officer who had stopped her.

Ritter told the jury Officer Eric Michl, who had stopped Velázquez on Northwest Market Street, had told him that night who she was. Michl did not testify Tuesday.

According to video footage of Velázquez's arrest shot by a police-car camera, Michl stopped Velázquez at 11:30 p.m.

When she couldn't produce her driver's license, Michl questioned her about whether she had been drinking, according to the video shown to the jury.

During the nearly 25-minute video, Velázquez was asked to recite the alphabet, count backward and walk in a straight line. When she was told she was under arrest she grew argumentative and kept asking to know what she "failed."

Three days after her arrest, Velázquez apologized — but she stopped short of admitting she had been intoxicated.

"I made a mistake," she said at the time, noting she should have taken a cab. "The responsibility is here. The blame is no one else's but my own."

Information from Seattle Times archives is included in this report.

Jennifer Sullivan: 206-464-8294 or jensullivan@seattletimes.com