Defender Arrested On Dui Charge

Hours after persuading a magistrate to drop a murder charge against his client, Twin Falls County Public Defender Mike Wood was arrested on a drunken driving charge.

Police arrested him in the early hours of Jan. 28, after pulling him over for having only one working headlight, according to an affidavit by Jerome County Sheriff’s Deputy Richard Ustick.

Wood’s attorney has entered an innocent plea.

Ustick pulled over Wood on the on-ramp of Interstate 84, the affidavit said. Wood got out of his van, approached the patrol car and was ordered three times to return to the vehicle, Ustick wrote.

The affidavit said Wood appeared to have difficulty maintaining his balance.

Wood said he had not drunk any alcoholic beverages and would “respectfully refuse” to perform a sobriety test, the affidavit said.

Earlier, Magistrate Michael Redman dropped a second-degree murder charge against Wood’s client, Olivia Jimenez, in the shooting death of her husband.