Michael Phelps not expected to get jail time
No matter the outcome of Michael Phelps' trial on drunken-driving charges Friday, the Olympian appears unlikely to face any jail time.
Phelps faces five charges, three relating to driving while impaired from his Sept. 30 arrest in Baltimore.
He had a blood-alcohol content of .14, nearly twice the legal limit, and failed several field sobriety tests.
This isn't Phelps' first DUI-related offense.
In 2004, the then-19-year-old was arrested for drunken driving but not convicted.
Instead, he was given probation before judgment (PBJ) and ultimately served 18 months' probation.
Though the previous arrest means Phelps will be viewed as a repeat offender, Scott J. Richman, who was the head of Baltimore City State's Attorney's Office Traffic Division from 2012 to 2014, said the PBJ won't affect his sentencing this time.
Phelps faces up to a year in jail and a $1,000 fine.
"The big things the judge is going to look at, two things, the facts of the case, obviously, and the time in between the two (DUIs)," said Richman, a products liability attorney in the Baltimore firm of Miles & Stockbridge.
"The less time that's been elapsed, the more likely you're going to see some incarceration. In a case like this where it's been almost 10 years to the day, there was no accident, there wasn't a particularly high test result in the grand scheme of test results the court sees, if I had to guess I would say he's going to get a suspended sentence.
"In that case, that means the judge gives him a one-year sentence. He suspends the entire amount and puts him on supervised probation. If he violates his probation, then the judge can give him up to one year (in jail)."
Richman said he thinks it's likely Phelps pleads to the charge of driving under the influence per se – which is the .14 test result – and receives the year of a suspended sentence and a supervised probation that could last up to three years.
Terms of probation could also include abstaining from drugs and alcohol, requirements like community service, attending a victim impact panel meeting, and the like.
"In Maryland, it's a not-guilty agreed statement of facts – it's essentially a guilty plea," Richman said.
It would also likely be the fastest way to wrap up the legal issues and allow Phelps to move on.
"It'd get it resolved quickly," he said.
Phelps' attorney Steven Allen did not return messages.
Phelps completed a six-week rehab program at an undisclosed treatment center following his arrest. He is also in the midst of serving a six-month suspension from USA Swimming, a ban that also includes next summer's world championships.
Since completing his six-week program, Phelps has returned to training with longtime coach Bob Bowman in Baltimore, and is still expected to continue along a path that leads to the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.
Richman doubts that the prosecutor would let Phelps plead to a lower charge because his breath test was .14. Had it been lower, around .08 or .09, it would be more likely.
Richman also points out that because Phelps has an additional drug-related blemish on his track record – he was photographed with a marijuana pipe at a party in 2009, suspended from competition for three months by USA Swimming but was not charged with a crime – a judge might take that into consideration while doling out punishment.
"Judges are concerned about the community and repeat offenders," Richman said. "I think (going to a treatment center) can only help. But you could also get a judge that says, the biggest thing that troubles me is I look at the media coverage from the prior incident and quotes from him … saying things like, 'I've learned from this mistakes, I continue to learn, I'll never make that mistake again.' Then, when there was that incident with the marijuana, similar message.
"The judge might say, 'Actions speak louder than words.' There are only so many times you can say, this is mistake and it's not going to happen again. Unfortunately with DUIs, you have a real possibility of injuring somebody."
