DWI charge dropped against former Southeast DPS director; 'I was wronged'

The former director of Southeast Missouri State University’s public safety department pleaded guilty to two amended misdemeanor traffic charges Wednesday after a special prosecutor dropped a misdemeanor count of driving while intoxicated.

James Douglas Richards, the former director, said Missouri State Highway Patrol toxicology tests were negative for both alcohol and drugs.

“This has been the worst ordeal of my life. I knew I was innocent,” he said after appearing in Cape Girardeau County Circuit Court in Jackson.

“I feel I was wronged by the whole system,” Richards said.

Special prosecuting attorney Stephanie Watson on Tuesday filed amended charges of failing to drive on the right half of the roadway and failing to stop at a stop sign.

Judge Craig Brewer fined Richards a total of $150 plus court costs during the brief hearing Wednesday.

Richards’ lawyer, Malcolm Montgomery, said earlier in the day authorities had tested Richards to determine whether he had drugs or alcohol in his system.

“They couldn’t find anything,” he said.

After the court action, both Richards and Montgomery said the original charges of driving while intoxicated and failing to drive on the right half of the roadway were filed only days before the one-year statute of limitations was to run out regarding the incident.

The charges were filed Nov. 9, 2016. The incident occurred the night of Nov. 12, 2015.

According to a probable-cause statement, Cape Girardeau police stopped Richards after receiving reports of a possibly intoxicated driver. Richards was stopped at Pacific and Good Hope streets.

Officer Jacob Carter said in the statement Richards’ speech was slurred, and he failed to recite the alphabet correctly. But the officer said Richards was able to count backward from 69 to 42 without missing a single number.

While at the scene, Richards said he had hours earlier taken one prescribed pill, a generic version of Xanax, according to the police officer’s statement.

Richards was handcuffed and transported to the Cape Girardeau police station for “driving in an impaired condition,” according to the statement.

Patrolman Timothy Guemmer, listed as a drug-recognition expert, conducted several tests and determined Richards “was under the influence of a central nervous system depressant and was unable to operate a vehicle in a safe manner,” Carter wrote in the statement.

Richards said blood was drawn, but the highway patrol did not perform a toxicology screening until months later.

The toxicology report, dated March 9, 2016, did not show any prescription medicine in his system, Richards said.

He said he slurred his speech because of dental work he was undergoing at the time. He said he always had trouble listing the letters of the alphabet in order.

Richards said he had “no problem” with being cited for traffic violations but insisted he never should have faced an intoxication charge.

Richards said Southeast Missouri State University officials forced him to resign his public-safety position almost immediately after his arrest.

On Nov. 13, 2015, the day after his arrest, university spokeswoman Ann Hayes said Richards had been placed on medical leave and since had “resigned for the purpose of retirement.” Hayes said the retirement was effective Dec. 1, 2015.

Beth Glaus, interim director of the university’s Department of Public Safety, was named to the permanent position of director of the department, Hayes said.

On Wednesday evening, Hayes said in an email about Richards’ case that “retirement is a personal choice and a personnel matter, and we do not comment on personnel matters.”

Richards said he originally was cited for city ordinance violations, but the city subsequently referred the case to the Cape Girardeau County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office.

In January 2016, Prosecuting Attorney Chris Limbaugh filed a motion to appoint a special prosecutor, citing the fact he had served with Richards on the board of directors of the Cape Girardeau/Bollinger County Major Case Squad.

Richards, a former Cape Girardeau police officer, had a 37-year career in law enforcement, including 29 years at the university.

The arrest and prosecution “destroyed my professional career and my reputation,” Richards said.

mbliss@semissourian.com

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