Former NFL star running back Marshawn Lynch is set to begin his trial this week for a DUI charge stemming from an incident near the Las Vegas strip in August of 2022.
According to KLAS, Marshawn Lynch was arrested after a traffic stop at around 7:30 a.m. on Tuesday, Aug. 9 2022 after officers found him “asleep behind the wheel with the vehicle in an undrivable condition.” Lynch was given a blood alcohol test and had a blood alcohol level more than twice the legal limit in the hours following the traffic stop.
Lynch, however, is contesting the charges, pleading not guilty as his attorneys claim that “no evidence proves” that Lynch actually operated the vehicle as he was merely found sleeping in the driver’s seat – not operating it.
“While [the officer] claims to have ‘observed [sic] a strong odor of an alcoholic beverage emitting from the vehicle, his person, and his breath,’ no evidence proves that Mr. Lynch drank anything or actually operated the vehicle on the night of the encounter,” his attorneys previously wrote in court documents obtained by KLAS.
It’s worth noting that Nevada law deems a person sitting in the driver’s seat of a vehicle as “in physical control,” of the vehicle.
We’ll have to see how the trial goes for Lynch.
