The head of Harford County?s Office of the Public Defender was charged last week with driving under the influence of alcohol and resisting arrest.
Lloyd Merriam has made news recently as the attorney for a county man recently accused of murdering one woman and assaulting six others.
“I will not comment on a [pending] case,” Merriam told The Examiner about his own case Thursday. “But you are welcome to come to the trial.”
According to court records, Maryland State Trooper Joseph Wargo was called to the scene of an accident on Oct. 27 shortly before 8 p.m. at the intersection of Rock Spring Road and East-West Highway in Forest Hill. The charging document says Wargo found Merriam, 51, sitting in the back seat of his Toyota Camry, and when he ordered Merriam to open the car door, Merriam ignored him. When Wargo finally got Merriam out of the car, Merriam “stumbled several times and used the vehicle to balance himself,” the charging document says.
It also says that Merriam refused to cooperate in answering questions and, after Wargo detected “a strong odor of alcoholic beverage from his breath,” refused to take a field sobriety test.
Wargo said Merriam “removed his right arm from my grasp several times” before Wargo was able to arrest him. Once at the Maryland State Police Bel Air Barrack, Merriam denied that he had been drinking and said he didn?t remember being asked to take the field sobriety test, court papers say.
He then agreed to a blood alcohol test, which registered for 0.06. The legal limit for driving while intoxicated is 0.08.
The charging document does not elaborate on the circumstances of any accident involved.
“Alcohol effects everyone differently,” said First Sgt. Boyd Tranthum, of the Bel Air Barrack. Tranthum said one person can drink several alcoholic beverages and may not act drunk, whereas another could be stumbling after two drinks.
Towson attorney and University of Baltimore law professor Byron Warnken said he taught Merriam law in the early 1980s.
“Right now he is constitutionally innocent until proven guilty,” Warnken said. Warnken said if a person registers a blood alcohol content of .05 or more, that person could be considered impaired, giving the arresting officer probable cause for an arrest.
Merriam?s trial is scheduled for Dec. 18 in Harford County District Court.
