clarinews@clarinet.com (CY RYAN) (01/18/90)
INCLINE VILLAGE, Nev. (UPI) -- Former San Francisco 49ers football player Russ Francis was acquitted Wednesday of a charge of drunken driving but found guilty of a lesser count of driving while impaired in connection with a motorcycle trip around Lake Tahoe last July. Justice of the Peace James Mancuso fined Francis, 36, $860 on his conviction and on three other misdemeanors to which the former tight end pleaded guilty. After the trial, Francis said he was happy he was found innocent of driving while drunk. He said he wanted to talk with his lawyers before making any other statements. A drunken driving conviction would have meant an automatic two-day jail term and a fine up to $1,000. Francis played 14 years in the National Football League, eight with the New England Patriots and six with the San Francisco 49ers. He retired this season after being on the inactive list with the Patriots. Before the justice court trial started, Francis pleaded guilty to misdemeanor counts of carrying a concealed 9mm pistol in his jacket, riding his motorcycle without a helmet and driving with an expired license. Justice Mancuso dismissed charges of failing to have insurance and driving an unregistered vehicle. Francis produced documents to show he was covered by insurance at the time and testified he had purchased the motorcycle two days before he was stopped by Nevada Highway Patrol officers on State Route 28 near Incline Village. Former Highway Patrolman Folks Lilyquist testified he clocked Francis doing 58 mph in a 45 mph zone while not wearing a helmet. He said Francis ``performed poorly'' on roadside sobriety tests involving eye maneuvers, heel and toe walking and standing on one leg. Lilyquist said it was obvious Francis had more than the four or five beers he had admitted drinking several hours before the incident. Francis refused a blood alcohol test. When he was stopped July 2, Francis told Lilyquist he had 4-5 beers, the last of which was within 90 minutes. But at trial, Francis testified he drank the last of five beers about two hours before he was stopped. He said he was mistaken on the time in which the beers were consumed while he was cycling around Lake Tahoe where he formerly lived. Lilyquist and fellow Patrolman Scott Simon both said Francis had a strong odor of alcohol and could not keep his balance during the sobriety tests. Francis said he had a foot injury the Friday before the arrest and that impaired his ability to perform. Officers said they found the gun in Francis' jacket. Francis has a permit to carry a weapon in California and Boston but not in Nevada. Lilyquist said Francis, the son of a police officer, cooperated during the testing but became sullen when he was booked. Dr. Vasco Salvadorini, a Reno pathologist-surgeon, testified the blood alcohol level in the 255-pound Francis could not have been above .05 when he was arrested, based on the size of the former football player and the time the beers were consumed. Defense lawyer William Magrath II said Lilyquist was ``out to get the big jock ... to get another notch in his gun.'' He said the arrest was not handled in a professiional way and there was no evidence to suggest drunken driving. Deputy District Attorney Carla Butko argued Lilyquist never showed any malice or bias in the case and that the roadside tests showed Francis was drunk.