Convicted DUI driver hit with perjury charge

SANDPOINT - A Sandpoint man is scheduled to be arraigned next month for allegedly lying to jurors during his drunken-driving trial.

Robert Larry Tweet is charged with perjury, a felony punishable by no less than one and no more than 14 years in prison.

A Bonner County jury convicted Tweet of driving under the influence at the felony level following a one-day trial on Nov. 12.

Sandpoint Police arrested Tweet in June, according to court documents. He was arrested at his home after driving from a friend's house following an argument, a police report said.

His blood alcohol concentration was measured at 0.20, which is almost three times the legal limit of 0.08, an Idaho State Police lab report indicated.

Tweet, 61, took the stand in his own defense and admitted he was intoxicated on the day in question. However, Tweet testified under oath that he did not drive and began walking home instead, court records show.

Tweet told the jury he saw a blond-haired jogger named Skip and paid the man $35 for a ride home.

Deputy Prosecutor Roger Hanlon contends in a criminal complaint that Tweet's testimony at trial was intentionally false.

Tweet is scheduled to be arraigned on the perjury charge on Jan. 5, the same day he's set to be sentenced in the drunken-driving case. It's the third time Tweet has been convicted of driving under the influence, court records show.