Solicitor Pays Ticket for Open Container Citation

Eleventh Circuit Solicitor Donnie Myers has paid a ticket for an , according to a traffic court official.

Because he paid the ticket, he no longer needs to appear at his scheduled court date set for 10 a.m. Thursday.

A highway patrolman pulled Myers over around 10:10 p.m. on May 25 on Old Chapin Road.

According to the dashboard video from the highway patrol car — which was orginally obtained by WIS — the trooper saw Myers swerving and driving in the middle of the road on Old Cherokee Road.

As soon as Myers stopped his car, he got out and headed toward the trooper. 

"What did I do?" Myers asks. 

"Go ahead and get your license for me, and I'll explain," the trooper said.

"When you pulled out in front of me over here on before we got to Old Cherokee, you were swerve...you were driving down the middle of the road," the trooper told Myers.

"You know why?" Myers asks the trooper, "Because I was listening to the Carolina game and it's good stuff," Myers said.

The trooper asked Myers if he had anything to drink, and Myers admitted to having a "few." 

When the trooper asked Myers to walk to the back of the car, he spotted a cup inside Myers' car. Myers told the trooper it was a drink that Sen. Jake Knotts left in the car. 

The trooper stepped aside and called for backup. 

The trooper got back in his car to work on the case and wait on backup. After a few minutes, Myers yells to the officer, "That was her drink," and points behind the patrol car.

Myers told the trooper that the cup in his car belonged to a woman he later called his girlfriend.

When the second trooper arrived, Myers told him, "I had two drinks." 

The trooper tried to perform field sobriety tests on Myers, but Myers told him that he can't walk in a straight line because of back and shoulder surgeries. 

The trooper performed an eye test instead, which required Myers to follow a pen with his eyes. In the video, Myers appears to pass the test the second time.

The trooper then asks Myers what's in the cup in his car.

"That's what my girlfriend left in there," Myers said.

"What's in the cup?" the trooper asked again.

"It probably some drinks," Myers said.

"Alcoholic?" the trooper asked.

"Yeah," Myers said.

The trooper poured out the drink on the side of the road.

Myers was cited for having the open container in his car. 

In May 2005, Myers was convicted of driving under the influence after North Carolina law enforcement officers pulled him over in his county-owned car near Interstate 240, according to WIS. He served one year of probation.