State Rep. Rob Briley said he had been “consuming alcohol to excess” and was trying to drive to rehab when police finally stopped him on the day of his September arrest, court documents released Tuesday show.
Briley said he had “no further memory” about Sept. 8, 2007, the day of his arrest when he allegedly rear-ended a pick-up truck, fled the scene of an accident, led police on a high-speed chase, did drive drunk and asked police twice to shoot him in the head.
Briley (D-Nashville) pleaded guilty this week to DUI, but cut a deal with state prosecutors to suspend the felony charge of evading arrest and other misdemeanor charges against him.
In the written agreement with the state, Briley submitted a “recitation of the facts,” which is required by law.
Briley’s statement says he “had been consuming alcohol to excess” in the days leading up to his Sept. 8 arrest.
“I did realize during this time that I had succumbed to my addiction and was in need of professional assistance to overcome this adversity,” Briley, an alcoholic, wrote.
“In the days prior to my arrest, I had been in contact with Cumberland Heights in Nashville, Tenn., in an effort to voluntarily enter rehabilitation. I phoned several days and each day was advised no bed was available.
“On Sept. 8, I was advised a bed was available and I could enter rehabilitation on that day. I remember getting in my vehicle and beginning to drive west in the direction of Cumberland Heights.
“I have no further memory of Sept. 8.”
After he was arrested, Briley did enter rehab at Cumberland Heights, but left abruptly after it was alleged in published reports he had an extramarital affair with a Capitol Hill lobbyist, Mary Littleton.
Briley’s statement provides a glimpse into the deteriorating life of the 41-year-old Nashville attorney from the famous political family.
In a previous interview Briley had with The City Paper, he would not discuss the day of his arrest on advice from his attorneys.
He did acknowledge in that interview that he was an alcoholic and that he had relapsed after 14 years of sobriety in 2003.
Contributing to his relapse, Briley said, were memories of unnamed childhood abuse against him.
Briley’s loss of sobriety contributed to him also having a pending divorce from his wife, Pier, who has moved to Vermont with their two children.
It all came to a head on Sept. 8 for Briley.
That day, a police officer’s video camera taped the state lawmaker in an apparent agitated state, whaling in pain and asking to be killed.
In his statement, Briley said he has seen the videotape of the arrest.
“After I was handcuffed, the video shows me acting loud and out of control,” Briley wrote. “I was suffering from a broken elbow, which when straightened, placed me in extreme pain.
When the officer handcuffed me, this obviously caused me a tremendous amount of pain and contributed to my actions after I was handcuffed.”
In the agreement signed by Wilson County Judge John D. Wootten, Jr., Briley must abide by nine obligations for the next two years in order for his charges not to be reinstated.
For the DUI, Briley will serve 10 days in Wilson County jail over a period of five consecutive weekends starting in January.