Convicted DUI driver files for $1M in damages

SANDPOINT — A Boundary County man is seeking more than $1 million in damages from Bonner County on grounds he was wrongfully convicted of drunken driving in Sandpoint.

A tort claim filed by Russell Allen Merrifield Jr. asks for $2,500 a day in damages dating back to his arrest in April 2007. A Bonner County jury convicted Merrifield of his third DUI offense in August 2007, court records show.

Merrifield had two prior DUI convictions in Boundary County.

Merrifield, 44, was stopped by Sandpoint Police for a traffic offense and arrested on suspicion of drunken driving. Merrifield blamed fatigue, a work-related injury and a stuck engine throttle for the traffic stop and arrest, according to court documents.

At trial, Merrifield testified he was sober and that he refused to submit a breath sample because he distrusted the devices law officers use to gauge the alcohol concentration in a person’s body.

Following the conviction, Merrifield was ordered to serve one to five years in prison with credit for 239 days he had already spent in custody, court records indicate. He petitioned for post-conviction relief, but the request was shot down because Merrifield was unable to show the sentence was too harsh.

Merrifield is appealing his conviction to the Idaho Supreme Court.

In his claim, which can serve as a precursor to a lawsuit, Merrifield said his imprisonment has put his safety in jeopardy on a daily basis and destroyed his relationship with his young son.

He also blames his court-appointed attorney for failing to challenge statements made by the prosecutor, the claim said.

Merrifield is imprisoned at the Southern Idaho Correctional Institution in Ada County, according to the Idaho Department of Correction.