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Lawyer pleads no contest to DUI

The Pinellas prosecutor is sentenced to one year of probation and receives an unpaid 30-day work suspension.

By CHRIS TISCH
Published July 8, 2005

LARGO - A Pinellas felony prosecutor charged with DUI this spring has pleaded no contest to the charge and has been suspended from her job for 30 days.

Allison C. Ridenhour was arrested on a DUI charge May 20 in Tampa.

She was the second Pinellas prosecutor to be arrested for DUI in the last year. In November, prosecutor Lydia Wardell also was arrested for DUI in Tampa.

Pinellas-Pasco State Attorney Bernie McCabe required all 150 of his attorneys to attend a course that focused on problems, including alcohol abuse, that lawyers can develop because of job-related stress. The course was last week.

"Unfortunately, we've had two make bad decisions and, hopefully, the other ones will become more aware of the consequences of their actions," said Bruce Bartlett, the chief assistant in McCabe's office.

"We certainly want to help anybody who would have a problem."

Bartlett said the two arrests are isolated incidents. He does not think there is widespread alcohol abuse in the office.

Ridenhour's 30-day suspension, in which she will not be paid, was the same punishment McCabe gave Wardell.

However, Wardell, who had been a supervisor, was demoted. Ridenhour has no management responsibilities and there are no plans to move her when she returns to work, Bartlett said.

Ridenhour, 33, received a year of probation June 28 when she pleaded no contest to the charge. Police pulled her over on May 20 after seeing her weaving on Howard Avenue. Breath tests showed her blood-alcohol count was as high as .181, more than twice the limit at which Florida law presumes impairment.

Bartlett said Ridenhour, like Wardell, was contrite and did not contest the charge.

"She has apologized to everybody," he said. "She basically stepped up to the plate and took the medicine."

[Last modified July 8, 2005, 01:01:05]