Arraignment for Hillary Clinton’s brother-in-law postponed

Arraignment for Roger Clinton, the half-brother of former President Clinton, on charges that he was driving under the influence of alcohol has been postponed until Oct. 6.

A judge also ordered Roger Clinton to attend one Alcoholics Anonymous meeting per week or alternatively show proof of enrollment in an alcohol education program.

“He regrets the incident and he’d like to put it behind him,” his attorney, Walter F. Wiggins Jr., said Friday. “We have every confidence that we’ll reach an acceptable disposition with the city prosecutor. We’re having productive, ongoing conversations.”

City prosecutors in Redondo Beach charged Roger Cassidy Clinton with one count each of driving under the influence of alcohol and driving with a blood-alcohol concentration of 0.08% or more, according to Los Angeles County Superior Court records.

The brother-in-law of presidential candidate Hillary Clinton was not required to attend the arraignment.

The charges stem from a June 5 incident, when a motorist told police about 7:20 p.m. that another driver was heading southbound on Pacific Coast Highway and possibly drunk, police said in a statement.

“The report was he was driving erratically, violating multiple” traffic laws, Redondo Beach police Lt. Joe Hoffman said.

Officers stopped the vehicle at Torrance Boulevard and South Prospect Avenue. Inside the vehicle were Roger Clinton and three other passengers, authorities said.

Clinton failed a series of field sobriety exams, which typically involve the suspect walking a straight line, standing on one leg and undergoing a test in which officers observe how the suspect’s eyes move from side to side, according to police.

In preliminary alcohol-content tests at the scene, Clinton’s breath showed readings of 0.230 and 0.237, according to a police report obtained by the Daily Breeze.

When he was taken to the police station, he refused an additional breath and blood chemical test to detect his blood alcohol content. That decision triggered an automatic one-year suspension of hisdriver’s license by the Department of Motor Vehicles under a law passed in 1990 to deter drunk driving.

“He was explained the law and chose not to provide chemical testing,” Hoffman said.

In 2001, Clinton was arrested in Hermosa Beach on suspicion of drunk driving and ultimately pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge of reckless driving. He was pardoned for a 1985 cocaine distribution offense by President Clinton before he left office.

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Twitter: @MattHjourno.

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UPDATES:

11:57 a.m.: This article has been updated with details concerning postponement of the arraignment.

This article was originally published at 4 a.m.