From KPTV.com:

OREGON CITY, Ore. -- A six-person jury couldn't agree Tuesday afternoon whether a local disc jockey, was impaired by a prescription drug when he was stopped by an officer last October.

Les Sarnoff, of KINK radio, went to the Clackamas County Court Tuesday for final arguments in a case of DUII. The case was regarding whether his driving impacted by the prescription sleeping pill Ambien.

After deliberating for three hours, the foreman told the judge they were a hung jury, and they were dismissed.

The 58-year-old Sarnoff has been a fixture on morning drive radio in Portland for more than 20 years. He admitted to the arresting officer and the jury that he had taken the drug but had expected to be home before it took effect.
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"The defendant took a gamble that night. He gambled whether he could get home before the Ambien kicked in, and the defendant lost that bet. I’m asking you to find him guilty of DUII," Deputy District Attorney Kimberly Graves said.

In his closing argument, Sarnoff’s attorney said his client was trying to open a bag of chips as he was driving from downtown to his Gresham home.

"The big factor of this is potato chips," defense lawyer Bill Uhle said. "All of a sudden, (the bag) really opens and it’s all over the inside of the car, which is startling when you’re operating a motor vehicle and could cause you to drive off to the side."

The lawyer said Sarnoff had driven almost all the way home without the Ambien noticeably impeding his driving.

But the prosecutor said the driver who called police witnessed dangerous behavior.

"He’s witnessing the car in front of him that runs off the road into the gravel, and then gets into the oncoming traffic," Graves said.

Sarnoff was previously convicted for DUII in Multnomah County in 2004.

The Clackamas County district attorney may choose to seek a new trial, offer a plea to a lesser charge, or drop the case, but that decision has yet to be announced.

http://www.kptv.com/news/15829193/detail.html

Come on people give the man a break, he was opening a bag of chips...sheesh!

I think it all depends on what kind of chips. If it were just regular ol' Lays, I'd be a bit miffed. However, if it were taco flavored Doritos, I'd be super pissed in they ended up all over my car. I think arguing mitigating circumstances makes perfect sense here.

It was a hung jury in the case of KINK morning personality Les Sarnoff. He was accused of driving under the influence in October, 2007.

The Clackamas DA's Office may seek to retry Sarnoff or drop the charges all together.

Dontcha just love public records information posted on the godless internet !

You just cant even allegedly "tie one on" and then get allegedly "busted" anymore without the whole North American broadcast community knowing about it.

The next thing I expect is someone will post here with a Youtube link of video showing Les walking the line, touching his nose, and then blowing into the Breathalizer.

Well, don't chip and drive.

Seriously, DUII is a major contributor to 50,000 auto related deaths, a top killer of teenagers and more dangerous than terrorists -- drunk drivers kill the equlivent of a 9/11 every two weeks.

In this case with the hung jury, the Clackamas DA should move along and proceed with the next DUII case. IMO.

I was in a "hung" jury once, we wore little bow ties and cuff links with our hair very nicely slicked back.

"Dontcha just love public records information posted on the godless internet !

You just cant even allegedly "tie one on" and then get allegedly "busted" anymore without the whole North American broadcast community knowing about it.

The next thing I expect is someone will post here with a Youtube link of video showing Les walking the line, touching his nose, and then blowing into the Breathalizer."

And I debated whether or not I should start a post. But I saw it on the local news (which was alive and well before the internet was around, by the way), and criminal charges are a matter of public record, so I started the thread.

One should always take care not to let a bad case of the munchies hit you while driving.

Exactly. And one should read their contract, and beware of the language that lets them bounce you for cause if you do anything to bring negative attention to the station.

Morning drive air people need to look at this case as an example of why you should never agree to do evening appearances on a weeknight. Les said that he'd done a nighttime event and took the pill on his way home so he could get at least some sleep before waking up for the morning show. Just say no. To the appearance fee.

Best wishes to Les. I wish they'd consider this case closed. The Oregonian says a new trial begins in, I think, June?

I have never served on a well hung jury....at least not that I know of....

bada BOOM!

I've taken Ambien once. My father in law has them because he's old and just can't sleep period without something.

Once it starts to do it's thing, it is an awful lot like alcohol. Medications taken orally take 20-40 minutes to begin to enter the blood stream in significant amounts.

This does vary with food, but not all that much.

It also varies with activity too. If there is more activity, then the time to impact is less overall.

These things are true for most any medication taken orally, and should be common knowledge.

When I took it, there was a time where I felt the stuff, but just was not sleepy just yet. Felt slightly drunk for sure.

Not sure it's got the judgment impact booze does, but it sure does mess with balance and overall coordination. That alone put me in the sleepy mood, because just doing stuff was not enjoyable.

It's totally fair game to call driving on this stuff, under the influence. After my experience at home, I wouldn't.

If anything, maybe people will get the message on this drug. It's a good and fairly clean (as in no morning effects) sleeper. Much better than the over the counter stuff, which is just HORRIBLE. In fact, those are so horrible, I would just rather stay up.

It's also potent, and that's where the trouble is. Really, anything that actually works --as in does something, needs to be respected, period.

Too bad he can't just do a PSA or something. Would do him and a lot of other people some good.

Good idea. Kudos KSKD. Quit torturing the guy, and turn bad into good.

Totally.

Anytime we can get some good advocacy done, in context, it's always a nice deal.

Some may see it as some of get out of trouble free card. Maybe so. I see it as leveraging his status here in PDX. Lots of people know Les.

If Les says, "Hey, I got into some trouble with this stuff, let me tell you what I learned, and what could have happened..." people will listen and at the same time Les has to deal with that personally, which is what punishment is supposed to do.

Locking him up, fining him, etc... do make him consider it personally. That's good, from a justice standpoint, but really those things can be done, leaving the greater issue under the radar potentially to rise up again on a poor judgement day in the future. Not good.

Airing that out in a sincere way, maybe with the fine or something to give it teeth, gets us out of the trial, and puts the whole mess to some good. And it really is US in the trial, because Les is a public figure.

Truth is, nobody got hurt, but they could have and that's the root of it right there.

On a personal note, I'm sure Les is hoping to just put it behind him. I would, and so would a lot of other people. I've had to have a trial before and they are just ugly on just about every level.

Putting it out there publicly would be good therapy for him, and I think having that on the table, reaching acceptance on it, then dealing from there is far more healthy than working through the system, hoping for a pass and a self-promise to do better.

He's had a DUII before. This strongly suggests to me that he's not really reached self-acceptance on this stuff and needs to. Something like a PSA would just force that and make the healing time after word mean something.

One more take on it. He's going to have to go through that healing time anyway. Why not make it count? There is nothing to lose really. The PSA can be well produced and very likely spin into something positive!

No harm in that.

(Les, if you read this, know it's just some thoughts from somebody who has listened over the years and has your best interests in mind and who means it in the very best of ways!)

DUII: Driving Under the Influence of Intoxicants. Does Les lose his job because of all the negative media attention he created?

Depends on how it's handled. If bad can be turned into good, no! He keeps the job, gets some good done, and is better for having worked through it.

An eye for an eye leaves the world blind right?

Jim Fenwick , 60s and 70s talker , went through this. He wound up riding a bike to Goose Hollow everyday to work. One of the mainstay advertisers on his KGW talk show was Wellpland insurance. That company specialized in difficult or otherwise uninsurable auto insurance clients.

....Author: Valerie_ring
Thursday, April 10, 2008 - 7:54 am

I have never served on a well hung jury....at least not that I know of....

Served On, or SERVICED?

(Sorry Val. Just kiddin'!)

Hung jury means not guilty. The station CAN'T discipline, nor excuse him, unless they decide to point to some non-specific "morals clause" in his contract. Then he'd have grounds for a major lawsuit, and every lawyer in the PacNW would be begging to represent him.

He's fine. This "story" is over.

I took a job at an AM/FM combo in Northern California in the late '80s. Little Mom and Pop combo, with an unbelivably think print out manual of do's and don't. The last one listed, on the last page was: "Don't get arrested."

Hung jury means not guilty. The station CAN'T discipline, nor excuse him, unless they decide to point to some non-specific "morals clause" in his contract. Then he'd have grounds for a major lawsuit, and every lawyer in the PacNW would be begging to represent him.


LOL- This is radio Anonymable, anyone can get fired, including Les!

It means not guilty yet, if the DA is setting another trial, thus the reason for my post.

I personally can easily see this as just being maybe uninformed, and or a poor judgement call, or some combination, perhaps not worth the implications that come with a DUII.

Beano is right on the money. They could fire his a$$ today and sleep like babies.

I think Anonymable is delusional.

The Oregonian says a new trial begins June 12. My understanding (as an English major, admittedly) is that a "hung jury" is not an acquittal...I think it's a mistrial...which seems odd to me. They didn't have the votes to convict. So let the guy go already, and do a PSA.

BTW every talent contract, even no-cuts, includes a clause allowing the employee to be terminated for cause under circumstances like these. So it becomes a management decision. There's decades of listener loyalty in Les, and the station recently broke faith with its core by cutting Rebecca Webb. They cut Les, too, and maybe the two of them cross the street and go straight up KINK's tailpipe.

Kink's ongoing business plan is to appeal to a younger listener demo and being a devil's advocate, I would imagine they can't wait to get rid of Les cos' he's so old, (58 ???? ha ha that's a showbiz age) , is expensive, and has zero appeal with younger,potential listeners. Can you say Hillary/Obama?

But Dennis is very reluctant to fire anybody. He might have been in the shadowy background to the Rebecca Webb firing but the knife was in Dave Mac's hand. That's why he gets the big $$.

So if I was at KINK and being Dave McD, I would kind of hint to Les that two DUI cases in 4 years is not the kind of morality that the station is seeking to present and may be Les should decide to spend more time with his wife.

KINK took the risk of alienating part of their morning show audience firing Webb. I think that may have been the first step in blowing up the old tired Sarnoff legacy . KINK must have known about this DUI case when they fired Webb.

This incident gives them a great excuse to blow it up entirely and start anew with younger, fresher, more demo targeted and relevant talent.

" two DUI cases in 4 years is not the kind of morality that the station is seeking to present "

Who looks to KINK DJs or any other DJ as a moral compass?

Heck, I look to Arbyboy...send cigarettes PLEASE!

According to police, a concerned driver dialed 9-1-1 shortly before 10 p.m. Aug. 30 to report that Sarnoff, 59, of Gresham was swerving on and off the road, narrowly missing a building and an oncoming car before he pulled his Volvo to the side of Southeast 242nd Avenue near Damascus.

Sarnoff was so impaired, the deputy said, that he couldn't stand up long enough for a field sobriety test.

http://www.oregonlive.com/metrosouth/oregonian/index.ssf?/base/metro_south_news/ 1207706181236720.xml&coll=7

Chips? Gawd, that is so lame. Is that even in the police report? Were they all over the inside of the car?

And it wasn't even 10PM. Is that really that late for a morning show? Maybe when you're pushing 60, it is. I'd guess that some of the DJ's on the "younger" stations stay up or out later than that. Or horrors, pull an occasional all-nighter.

Now is the perfect time to bring back my Jeffy!

(As if!)

He's all that AND a bag of chips! With the easy-open resealable bag, too!

For what it's worth, the ramp up on Ambien is not some easy climb.

You take it, then about 20-40 minutes later, you feel it over the course of a few minutes.

It's entirely possible that he was fine, it hit, and he's in trouble quick. It's also entirely possible that it happened from ignorance. Finally, it's possible he didn't notice at onset, leaving him in trouble when he does.

The stuff behaved EXACTLY this way, from my experience --and that makes it dangerous.

Just saying I'm not so sure it's all that cut 'n dried. With booze, it's common knowledge. IMHO, no excuses. In this case, there is some slack and that's very likely why we have a hung jury.

With this kind of thing, I don't know that we have common knowledge in place. Go ask your friends about the time for oral medications to become therapeutic.

Secondly, ask them about the pill formulation and how that impacts the general bio-availability on the drug. (how fast blood levels reach therapeutic saturation levels)

Finally, ask them the half-life of the drug in question, and what that means with regard to length of effect. (how long said saturation remains at therapeutic levels.)

I think most of us would be surprised at the level of ignorance on these things. A general PSA on this would actually be a really good thing.

Who actually reads the little paper, printed full of this information, written so that we really have the greatest chance of NOT reading it?

(and that's for another thread on the other side --clarity and discoverability standards in drug labeling.)

Again, with booze, this is all well known. We've heard about it, over and over. With medications like this, we haven't!

I think we should.

"Ask your doctor".
(Or the pharmacist? Maybe he should sue him/her.)
"Do Not Drive or operate machinery"
"Do not mix with alcohol"

I guess he missed hearing the big fancy ads constantly on TV with the (obvious) spoken warnings.

(Ooops, now it's his Tivo or his DVR's fault. Or does he only watch PBS for his pledge drives?)

>>And it wasn't even 10PM. Is that really that late for a morning show?


Oh, yeah. Way late, for anyone who does mornings for a living. Ask any morning TV anchor if they're still out at 10. Generally they wake up at 3 AM at the latest. Same with morning jocks or newspeople. Most just say no--to MCing weeknight events.

He should have been nailed for reckless driving and for not being able to "eat just one" Lay's potato chip.

I believe I've heard Sarnoff is in the building at KINK by 3am

You people are all making excuses. The fact of the matter is, Les was driving when he shouldn't have been. That is HIS own fault that he was Mcing an evening event. He is just lucky that nobody got hurt while he was opening that bag of chips in the car while driving.
If Les wants to eat Chips while driving, I would like to suggest that he trys Pringles. With Pringles, you just pop the top, much easier to open than a bag of Lays chips.

Maybe that Ding Dong should just stick to Twinkies!

Buns, you are exactly right.

I just think some good could be done, that's all.

Maybe he should just stick to listening to KINK's "Lights Out". Isn't that what the show is for?

And of course I KNOW that TV people are either up, or AT work at 3AM, they actually need to know the news, be dressed nicely and have their hair done, and makeup applied. Radio? Not so much.

Is KINK really where people go for their morning (s)news?

Well then the Judge ( or Jury ) can order Les to do a PSA for TV and Radio.

IMO, think this is getting out of hand, similar to the 'Jennifer Marlow Witch Hunt,' since none of us are the judge or the jury (and to be on a jury you have to have not heard of the case and have no opinion, right?), and it sounds like all we have to go on is newspaper reports based on court reports and such.

This would be a difficult situation for anyone, especially someone in the public eye like this. If anything, we should probably be supportive instead of condemning him. Or at the very least let the people who will actually make the decisions make said decisions.

No, I'm not Les, Jennifer, or anyone associated with him or the station!

(And I myself am still bashed & trashed for riding New Flyers and the like, while everyone else is figuring out how they'll afford $4/gallon gas. I figure I'm the one coming out ahead in this regard.)

This week is the third week in a row that Les has been off the air at KINK and Dave and Sheila have been filling in for him...haven't heard of too many full time jocks in the biz (esp morning drive) that are allowed 3 consecutive weeks of vaca.

I wonder if Amy Winehouse's "Rehab" is still in the KINK rotation ?

If they did get rid of Les Sarnoff, than they should put Inessa in the mornings.

After a month off, seems Les S. is now going to be doing afternoons on KINK instead of Dave and Sheila who will be staying doing am drive on KINK

Best of luck to old Les, I think he finally has his chips in order. (Hopefully not Cool Ranch Doritos, that could get messy!)

Knock 'em dead, Les, in your new time slot, as I'm sure you will. It's one of the best jobs in radio.

I know.

Mr. Sarnoff and I have a history together that dates back to the mid-'70s at least.

Interesting, the way things turn out.

Good luck, kiddo, not that you need it.