Published: November 23, 2009 04:20 pm      

Police suspect Kokomo attorney of OWI

Former Howard County Deputy Prosecutor David Steele was arrested on suspicion of driving while intoxicated, but Fishers police don’t believe alcohol was a factor.

Instead, the arresting officers said Steele tested positive for drugs in the early morning hours of Nov. 15.

Steele’s arrest comes just over a year after the 34-year-old Kokomo attorney quit his deputy prosecutor’s job, a decision that came after a public spat with Howard Superior 2 Judge Stephen Jessup.

According to a probable cause affidavit filed with the Hamilton County Prosecutor’s office, Steele apparently missed warning signs around a Fishers construction zone.

Officers arrived at the scene around 4:50 a.m. to find Steele had driven a 2008 GMC Envoy into a “gap in the incomplete road,” according to the Fishers accident report.

Steele’s account of what happened differs widely from the arresting officers’ version.

Contacted Thursday, Steele said he was disoriented because “my head went through the windshield,” and said the officers simply wouldn’t take him to the hospital.

The officers, however, said Steele was seen by emergency medical services at the scene and refused treatment. No injuries were listed on the accident report.

Whatever the case, both the officers and Steele agree the attorney appeared disoriented.

“The accused was confused about where he was and what had occurred prior to my arrival,” Fishers Officer Binh Dennis reported. “The accused was unable to answer questions about where he had been just moments prior to the accident.”

The officers had Steele perform three field sobriety tests, which they said he failed, and reported Steele’s speech was slow and his manual dexterity and balance were both unsteady.

Steele said he doesn’t remember much of the accident, apart from hitting a huge pothole.

But he said he “wasn’t under the influence of anything.”

“This is not an OWI,” Steele said. “That’s not going to be charged.”

“There was no probable cause. When I was pulled out of the car, they said I was unsteady on my feet. They didn’t believe I was sober.”

The officers note on the accident report that both alcohol and drug tests were administered, including both blood and urine tests. The tests were performed around 7:43 a.m. at St. Vincent Hospital.

On the accident report, the word “positive” appears under the heading “Drug Results,” and under the heading “Apparent Physical Status” the box next to “drugs/medication” is checked.

No formal charges had been filed as of Thursday, and the Hamilton County Prosecutor’s office did not return calls. Fishers Police officials had no comment beyond the information in the accident and arrest reports.

Steele was booked into the Hamilton County Jail on a preliminary misdemeanor operating while intoxicated charge, paid a $2,500 cash bond later in the day and was released.

Thursday, he said he doesn’t expect to face formal charges.

Steele’s address on the accident report was listed as Kokomo, but he’s been working for an Indianapolis law firm since deciding to end his Kokomo practice in 2008.

Steele left Kokomo, saying his reputation had been irreparably harmed by Jessup’s accusations.

Jessup’s main accusation — that Steele was missing court dates because of drug use — resulted in Jessup apologizing to Steele and accepting a censure from the Indiana Judicial Qualifications Commission.

Judicial commission spokesman Meg Babcock said in 2008 that Jessup was not formally charged with ethical misconduct for the accusation. Babcock’s written statement said Jessup cooperated in the commission’s investigation and admitted he violated the Code of Judicial Conduct.

Jessup declined comment after accepting the censure.

Jessup’s accusation came after Steele failed to show for an April 18, 2008, hearing concerning a client’s guilty plea.

Steele had fellow prosecutor Michael Krebes sit in for him at the hearing, which is common practice among attorneys.

Jessup said he was upset because he had previously warned Steele, in November 2007, not to miss another hearing.

When Steele failed to show for the April 18 hearing, Jessup halted the proceedings and called Steele’s secretary, who he told to find Steele. Jessup then went downstairs to the office of Howard County Prosecutor James Fleming. According to Kokomo attorney Dan May, an irate Jessup accused Steele of being a “junky.”

When Steele arrived in the courtroom, he publicly challenged Jessup’s statements.

“Did you go to the prosecutor’s office and say I was shooting up?” Steele asked, according to transcripts.

“I don’t know, I may have,” said Jessup. “I don’t know. But I’ve heard from several sources you’re strung out on drugs.”

Steele denied the accusation and even drug tested himself to prove Jessup’s claim was untrue.

“I do not take drugs,” Steele told the Kokomo Tribune in May 2008. “I unequivocally deny any and all drug use whatsoever. I voluntarily took a urine test even though I felt it violated every civil right I went to law school to protect. Obviously, the drug test came back completely clean.”

According to the commission’s ruling, “Jessup apologized to Steele and acknowledges he had no personal knowledge on which to base such a statement.”



Click here for the David Steele accident report