Secretary of Public Security Vows 'No Impunity for Drunk Drivers' The News
go to original February 19, 2013

MEXICO CITY – Mexico City Secretary of Public Security Jesús Rodríguez Almeida said Monday that there will be no impunity for those caught driving under the influence.

In an interview, Rodríguez Almeida said that anyone found driving while intoxicated will be arrested. “There will be no immunity. We will take them to the civil judge.”

The statement comes after Green Party (PVEM) Senator Jorge Emilio González was summoned before a civil judge Sunday after being detained by police for registering blood alcohol levels above the legal limit, which is 0.4 in Mexico City.

Emilio González senator said Monday he would return to the “El Torito” Administrative Sanctions Center next Saturday to complete his arrest hours for driving under the influence of alcohol.

In a brief interview at the Senate, Emilio González told reporters that he was stopped early Sunday morning at a sobriety checkpoint at the intersection of Reforma and Campos Elíseo in Mexico City.

“I was stopped by an operative, who is a very good operative in Mexico City by the way. I had been drinking tequila, and like any other citizen, I filed an amparo with the lawyers that are outside (El Torrito) ... I left at 7:30 a.m., and next Saturday I will return to complete the remaining (12.5 hours).”

Rodríguez Almeida said that nearly who files an “amparo” to get out of jail ends up serving same amount of time they would have in the first place.

An amparo, often called the Mexican version of habeus corpus, is a legal process meant to guarantee constitutional rights. It’s application, however, is broad.

Emilio González said that he filed the amparo so that he could leave the detention center.

“I filed the amparo because everyone does, and I was really cold, they wouldn’t let me have my jacket or anything. There wasn’t anything to eat, no water to drink, and well, I was tired at 7:00 a.m.”

The PVEM senator went on to say that at the time of the arrest, he did not provide his name or take a Breathalyzer test.

González Martínez made the following recommendation to Mexico City residents: “If you drink, don’t drive.”

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