Judge Asks, ‘Does Your Mother Know?’

An East Hampton man who recently moved to Springs was arrested early Monday morning on a felony drunken-driving charge by the East Hampton Village police. Jesse Scott Lien, 33, reportedly told police he had had “a couple of beers” when he was pulled over on Montauk Highway near Green Hollow Road. Police said he was driving on the shoulder of the road at the time.

Failing roadside sobriety tests, he was arrested on the drunken-driving charge, as well as several other charges, and was taken to police headquarters. There, he refused to take the Intoxilyzer 9000 breath test.

Because he was convicted of misdemeanor driving while intoxicated in 2007, the new charge was automatically elevated to a felony, as was an unlicensed-driving charge.

Mr. Lien was brought into East Hampton Town Justice Court later that morning, where a court officer who knows his family spoke quietly with him until Justice Steven Tekulsky entered the court.

“Does your mother know you’ve been arrested?” Justice Tekulsky asked. Mr. Lien responded, “No.” Justice Tekulsky told him that the district attorney’s office had asked bail to be set at $10,000.

Mr. Lien was represented by Brian Francese, an attorney from the Legal Aid Society assigned to East Hampton. “He has never failed to appear in court,” Mr. Francese said, adding that Mr. Lien was a lifetime resident of the town. He asked that bail be set at $250.

“He is going to have to come up with a little more than that, based upon his prior D.W.I. conviction, as well as a prior D.W.A.I. He doesn’t have any privilege to operate a motor vehicle, yet he allegedly was driving while intoxicated.” Justice Tekulsky set bail at $2,500.

“Is anybody going to be able to post that bail?” Justice Tekulsky asked. Mr. Lien was uncertain.

“Look, despite the fact that you are here again, this is not the end,” Justice Tekulsky said. “You’re lucky you did not kill yourself, or someone else. It is Christmastime. It is a bad time for people with problems with alcohol or drugs. It is very easy to say, ‘I screwed up. How much worse can it get?’ ” Justice Tekulsky warned that it could get much worse, legally, and said that Mr. Lien’s fate was in his own hands.

If Mr. Lien fails to make bail but is not indicted by a grand jury in Riverside on the felony charges by the day after Christmas, he will be released, at least for the time being, with a place on Justice Tekulsky’s criminal calendar for the new year.

In other road arrests this week, a 44-year-old musician who splits his time between Florida and East Hampton was stopped by police on Old Stone Highway in Amagansett on a D.W.I. charge after allegedly using improper signals. He was arrested and taken to headquarters, where he refused to take the breath test, police said, giving a variety of reasons, including that he had “not been drinking,” and that he had only been “drinking Kool Aid.”

Later that morning, Justice Tekulsky set bail for Greg Galavotti at $200, informing him that while he still had his Florida driver’s license, his driving privileges in New York State had been revoked.

“Can I ask a question, sir?” Mr. Galavotti asked. “What about a hardship license?”

“You are not eligible for a hardship license as far as this court is concerned and the D.M.V. is concerned,” because he refused the breath test, Justice Tekulsky said.

“That was not explained to me,” Mr. Galavotti said.

Justice Tekulsky told the defendant that, in the short term, the only way he could have his driving privilege restored was by going to a hearing at the Department of Motor Vehicles, and convincing that judge that he had not refused the breath test. “It is not very likely, but, it could happen,” Justice Tekulsky said. Mr. Galavotti was taken back to police headquarters, where he was released after posting bail.

An East Hampton man was arrested by Southampton Town police early Sunday morning on a D.W.I. charge. Eduardo Morgan Rodriguez, 46, swerved across lane lines on Flanders Road, leading to a traffic stop. He was also cited for misdemeanor unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle. He was arraigned Sunday morning in Southampton Town Justice Court in Hampton Bays, and was released on $400 bail.