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Adam Clayton Powell IV is No Amy Winehouse, But He Still Drove Drunk, Prosecutors Say

By DNAinfo Staff on March 24, 2010 1:35pm  | Updated on March 24, 2010 9:30pm

Adam Clayton Powell IV (c.) might not party like rock stars Mick Jagger (l.) and Amy Winehouse (r.), but he was still drunk behind the wheel, prosecutors said.
Adam Clayton Powell IV (c.) might not party like rock stars Mick Jagger (l.) and Amy Winehouse (r.), but he was still drunk behind the wheel, prosecutors said.
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By Shayna Jacobs

DNAinfo Reporter/Producer

MANHATTAN — Assemblyman Adam Clayton Powell IV might not party like Amy Winehouse or Mick Jagger, but he was still driving drunk when officers pulled him over on the Henry Hudson Parkway two years ago, prosecutors said.

Powell was "out like a lot of New Yorkers are on any given night," but then broke the law by taking the wheel after drinking, Assistant District Attorney Shawn McMahon told jurors during opening arguments in the lawmaker's drunk driving trial Wednesday.

"I don't need to prove to you that the defendant was Amy Winehouse or Mick Jagger that night," McMahon said, adding that evidence will show that Powell should not have been behind the wheel.

Powell's attorney Stacy Richman said video evidence clearly shows Powell was sober and that had police used all the resources available to them, there would be solid proof he was below the legal drinking limit.

"Not guilty," she told jurors in her opening statement. "I look forward to this trial."

As testimony began, the arresting officer said the first ID Powell handed to police on the night of March 6, 2008, was his legislative ID, and not his driver's license.

McMahon later called the move “his proverbial 'get out of jail free card," and argued that Powell initially showed him the state ID as a way of saying "I'm important."

Powell's roadside Breathalyzer test was recorded at .07, which is below the .08 legal limit. Powell also took a sobriety and coordination test, which his lawyer said he easily passed.

Prosecutors said the equipment used for his first Breathalyzer test had not been properly calibrated. Powell was arrested after refusing to take a second test at the 28th Precinct.

In addition to the driving while intoxicated charge, Powell also faces a criminal violation for refusing the second test.

McMahon said evidence will show Powell "was not a fall-down drunk," but that he was intoxicated based on other observed factors.

In closing arugments, Powell's lawyer said that the video evidence showed a coherent driver who executed the test perfectly. She added that Powell weighed 210 pounds and would have been visibly intoxicated in the videos if he was truly drunk.

"It's not illegal to have a drink in our system and drive in our state," Richman said. "It's only illegal if you are over the limit."