August 19
August 19, 2008
Edna Breaux Uzee
August 21, 2008
Former state Rep. Carla Dartez said she she’s now over six months sober having completed a 30-day residential rehabilitation program in Arkansas and has learned from her mistakes.
Dartez was in court last week to answer to charges for a second DWI arrest dating back to January. Dartez said she was relieved to find out any record of her first DWI charge had been expunged under state law because the incident had occurred over 10 years ago.
The former state rep pleaded guilty to a first-degree charge after District Judge Johnny Walker granted a motion to set aside Dartez’s 1998 conviction in East Baton Rouge.
Walker gave Dartez a six-month suspended jail sentence, two years unsupervised probation and ordered her to pay a $500 fine and court fees. She must also complete a court-ordered driver-improvement program and perform community service, according to the judge’s order.
The sentencing is a result of a Jan. 28 incident on U.S. Highway 90 near Bayou Blue Road.
State troopers stopped Dartez after she allegedly swerved from her lane, according to police reports.
Although Dartez passed a breath test for alcohol, a trooper arrested her, noting in his report that the former state representative appeared to be impaired. Dartez refused to submit to a urine test. She was charged with improper lane usage and a second-offense DWI.
Dartez had previous encounters with the law while behind the wheel. In September 2007, she was ticketed for improper lane use after a collision that left a pedestrian with a broken arm. And in 2003, she crashed her motorcycle on Mardi Gras.
Dartez suffered a fractured skull and dislocated shoulder in the wreck. She told authorities at the time she was taking a prescribed medication.
“I’m glad it’s over. I’ve learned much from my mistakes. But the more important thing is that I am now a better person for what has happened,” Dartez said.
“I can’t blame anybody but me. But today, I can happily say I’ve been sober for over six months, and frankly, this is the best I’ve felt in quite a long time,” she added.
In a telephone interview Monday, Dartez told the Tri-Parish Times that her misfortune has been micromanaged by the media, while other Louisiana lawmaker’s misdeeds “have been overlooked and forgotten.”
“I’m totally amazed at how the media has micromanaged me in the press, yet they seem to ignore (other lawmakers) who used money for sex!” she said.
“It’s truly sickening, and it’s a double standard, all because I’m a woman,” Dartez charged. “But you know what? I’m praying for the media and, frankly, the government as well.”
Dartez, 42, is a Democrat from Morgan City who represented State House Seat District 51 from 2000-08. The district is comprised of parts of Terrebonne, Assumption and St. Mary parishes, from 2000 to 2008.
She lost her re-election bid to the state House of Representatives last year to challenger Joe Harrison, an Assumption Republican. Dartez lost favor with many voters after she reportedly signed off on a telephone call with Terrebonne Parish NAACP President Jerome Boykin’s mother with a “buckwheat” reference.
Dartez publicly apologized for the reference at the time, saying she had mistakenly believed it was a term of endearment.
She said she had first seen it used in the 1980s during Saturday Night Live skits featuring comedian Eddie Murphy.
Boykin remained steadfast in voicing outrage locally and nationally over the incident. Up until then, both he and his mother had worked for Dartez’s campaign.
“It was a matter of principles, especially making that statement to my 75-year-old mother,” Boykin said during the fallout.
Dartez attended the 27th Annual Terrebonne NAACP Freedom Fund Banquet earlier this month and spoke to Boykin.
“I regret what I did. But I was not going to let what happened stop me from attending (the ceremony), particularly since I had been at the past seven or eight years as a legislator. I was even a member of the NAACP before I was in office. I just never renewed my membership,” Dartez said.
Boykin said he had an opportunity to speak with Dartez before and at the banquet.
“She looks and sounds better than ever. Whatever she’s doing, she’s doing the right thing,” Boykin said.
