A former mental-health counselor in Blaine County has been charged with felony DUI for allegedly driving in an intoxicated state to the court building in Hailey in January.
Pierre John Saviers, 61, of Hailey, was removed from the audience of a hearing, a jury trial in Blaine County 5th District Court, by Hailey police and court Bailiff Dale Crowther. After failing field sobriety tests, Saviers was placed under arrest.
Because of the new charge, Saviers has also been charged with a probation violation for a 2012 felony conviction of violation of a no-contact order.
According to a probable-cause affidavit filed in the case by Hailey Patrolman Charles Cox, Saviers scored a .17 blood-alcohol content in a breath test administered after his arrest at the Blaine County Public Safety Building. The legal blood-alcohol limit for driving in Idaho is .08.
Saviers was charged with felony DUI because of two previous misdemeanor DUI convictions in Blaine County in 2010 and 2011.
Court documents do not make it clear why Saviers went to the court building on Jan. 14, the day of his arrest. He was not scheduled for a court hearing that day, however the probable-cause affidavit filed by Cox states that Saviers was apparently trying to keep an appointment with his attorney.
Police were notified of Savier’s condition on that day by a witness who said that she saw Saviers drive and park near the court building in an intoxicated state.
Because of the new charge, Saviers has also been charged with a probation violation for a 2012 felony conviction of violation of a no-contact order. He was charged with a felony because Idaho law allows that a felony be charged in a third no-contact order violation within a five-year period. Saviers had two misdemeanor no-contact order violations in 2011. All three incidents involved illegal contact with his ex-wife.
Saviers was placed on probation for five years in that case, ordered to not consume alcohol and ordered to continue counseling for alcoholism and mental-health issues.
Saviers remained incarcerated Tuesday in the Blaine County jail on $115,000 bond, $30,000 for the felony DUI charge and $85,000 for the probation violation charge.
He was arraigned in district court on the DUI charge on Monday. He pleaded not guilty and a jury trial was scheduled for July 22.
