Hawaii lawmaker charged in DUI case, but wins civil battle to keep his license

HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) - State Rep. Matt LoPresti was charged Wednesday afternoon for allegedly driving drunk last month in Ewa Beach.

But a delayed blood test result means he’ll get to keep his license as he prepares to fight the criminal charge.

The arrest happened on June 16. LoPresti was stopped in the bike lane on Fort Weaver Road.

In the arresting officer’s body camera video, Lopresti said, “I would like to take the test so that we can settle this.”

But the results of that blood alcohol test did not come back in the required time for the Administrative Driver’s License Revocation Office.

“Under the rules, they have eight days to issue a decision. If they do not issue a decision in that timeframe then the license is automatically returned,” attorney Victor Bakke said, of the process.

Attorney Jonathan Burge, who specializes in DUI cases, called it a technicality in the civil process.

There are different reasons why blood test results don’t make the deadline. It’s not clear why it happened in Lopresti’s case.

The license revocation process does not affect the criminal process.

“The Prosecutor’s Office should have received the blood test result by now so they should know what that test result was,” said Patrick McPherson, another DUI attorney.

McPherson said LoPresti could still have his driver’s license revoked if he’s convicted of DUI.

Hawaii News Now did reach out to LoPresti multiple times by phone and email, but did not hear back.

Copyright 2022 Hawaii News Now. All rights reserved.