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France charged again with DUI
Posted: Wednesday December 15, 1999 02:26 PM
LAGUNA NIGUEL, Calif. (AP) -- Former Los Angeles Rams lineman Doug France, who killed another motorist in an alcohol-related crash nine years ago, has been charged again with drunken driving, police said. Prosecutors said the former All-Pro was driving Sept. 26 with a blood-alcohol level of 0.15 percent, nearly twice the legal limit. He was arrested after his sport-utility vehicle struck a car on the San Diego Freeway in San Juan Capistrano. No one was injured in the collision. France, 46, was charged with a felony because of his prior alcohol-related vehicular manslaughter conviction, deputy district attorney Jim Tanizaki said. If convicted, he could face up to three years in prison. In 1990, France was driving about 80 mph when he lost control of his BMW on a curve. The car crashed head-on into a Mazda driven by Maria Contreras, a 53-year-old neighbor. The woman was dead at the scene, while France sustained a concussion and broken pelvis. The California Highway Patrol said France had a blood-alcohol level of .13, which exceeded the .08 legal intoxication limit, at the time of the crash. He pleaded guilty in 1991 to alcohol-related vehicular manslaughter and was sentenced to five years of probation with one year in jail. He served the sentence under house arrest. In a telephone interview Tuesday with The Orange County Register, France blamed his recent arrest on cough syrup he was taking that he believes raised his blood-alcohol level. "I had two glasses of wine that day. ... If it wasn't for the lady that swerved in front of me, I would have made it home fine," he said. "I wasn't in any way intoxicated." However, police said he told an officer at the scene of the September crash he had been drinking beer. France denies making that statement. France, who played for the Rams from 1975-1981, is free on $25,000 bond. He is scheduled to appear Jan. 6 for a pretrial hearing in Laguna Niguel.
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