Report: Frawley says he drank cough syrup
Ousted UMW President William Frawley told police officer he had consumed six bottles of cough medicine, according to court records
BY JEFF BRANSCOME
Date published: 7/20/2007
BY JEFF BRANSCOME
WEB EXTRA: Read the CRIMINAL COMPLAINT from Frawley's court file.
Former University of Mary Washington President William Frawley told a police officer he had consumed six bottles of cough medicine on the day of his April 11 arrest in Fredericksburg, court documents show.
The officer also smelled a strong odor of an alcoholic beverage, the police report states.
Frawley, 53, was charged in the city with driving under the influence and refusing a Breathalyzer test. He had been charged the previous day in Fairfax County with driving while intoxicated after flipping a vehicle owned by the UMW Foundation.
UMW's board of visitors fired him "for cause" at the end of April. His trial in Fredericksburg General District Court had been scheduled for yesterday but was pushed back until Sept. 18.
He's scheduled to appear in Fairfax General District Court on Sept. 21.
Fredericksburg Commonwealth's Attorney Charles Sharp said prosecutors requested the delay because they're still awaiting Frawley's blood test results subpoenaed from Mary Washington Hospital.
Sharp could not be reached yesterday afternoon, after The Free Lance-Star had reviewed Frawley's case file.
Hospital spokeswoman Kathleen Allenbaugh said MWH gets dozens of requests for medical records, such as blood tests, every day. "We are fully cooperating with the investigation," she said.
Phillip Sasser, Frawley's defense attorney in Fredericksburg, requested that the medical records be sealed, which he said a statute requires.
Frawley has stated that he was at the hospital for five days for the treatment of a serious heart disorder.
Sasser asked The Free Lance-Star not to contact Frawley about the case. "I'm not going to make any comment on the evidence or anything that's going to come before the court."
Sasser has subpoenaed UMW employees Nina Mikhalevsky and Amy Anderson, according to court records.
Mikhalevsky worked for Frawley at George Washington University's college of arts and sciences and was his first hire as president of UMW. She became the school's first-ever vice president for strategy and planning.
Anderson, who works in the president's office, reportedly saw Frawley enter his office the day of his Fredericksburg arrest.
Sasser would not comment on the subpoenas.
Jeff Branscome: 540/374-5402 Email: jbranscome@freelancestar.com
Read more stories about Fredericksburg
Date published: 7/20/2007
Most recent reader comments:
Invest in Cough Syrup?
(posted by
Ranko
, Sep. 25, 2007 2:41 pm)  
If you have any extra funds laying around you might consider investing in cough syrup. After the lawyers get Frawley off on this one every drinker in the country will have SIX bottles in their car. I wonder does drinking that much cough syrup dull one to the fact they they are driving around in a vehicle with three wheels on it? I bet his cough syrup didn't say Vicks 44 but Jim Bean 80 proof.
And this guy was a president of a university?
(posted by
CorranH96
, Sep. 25, 2007 2:41 pm)  
You have to laugh when a newspaper gets a headline that incorrect. It should be something around the lines of "Frawley claims he drank cough syrup" and not a statement of fact that he did in fact drink cough syrup. And even if he was in fact under the influence of cough syrup he would still be guilty of driving under the influence, check Code of Virginia § 18.2-266(iii): http://leg1.state.va.us/cgi-bin/legp504.exe?000+cod+18.2-266
so he wasn't trying to get DRUNK he was just trying to get STONED. much better.
"Over the years, teens discovered that they still could get high by taking large doses of any OTC medicine containing dextromethorphan (also called DXM).
Dextromethorphan-containing products — tablets, capsules, gel caps, lozenges, and syrups — are labeled DM, cough suppressant, or Tuss (or contain "tuss" in the title)."
This is an excuse?
(posted by
BGILBERT
, Sep. 25, 2007 2:41 pm)  
I wonder what he was consuming the day of the first incident in Fairfax. I am as curious as everybody else to see how this thing plays out. I still say his high dollar lawyer will get him off with no jail time. I hope he at least was able to loosen up that phlem in his chest. To bad Medicrap doesn't provide states eveidence to the courts as quickly as it does a bill to it's patients.
6 bottles
(posted by
Pippin
, Sep. 25, 2007 2:41 pm)  
So much for being an "educated" person. Who would drink 6 bottles of "cough syrup" before hitting the road? My heart would be hurting after that too, along with my conscience.
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