The St.

Friday, April 28, 2000

The St. Paul Police Department has revised its earlier reports of the amount of time that elapsed in Tuesday night’s events leading to state Rep. Rob Leighton’s arrest for drunk driving.

According to police spokesman Michael Jordan, only 10 minutes – and not two hours as previously reported – elapsed between the time when he was involved in an accident as a passenger and the time when he was stopped while driving the same vehicle.

"We made a mistake in reading the investigating officers’ writing of the times on the accident report and announced the wrong times when we initially released the information about the accident," Jordan said Thursday.

Anna Youngerman, 23, a Minnesota DFL House Caucus campaign worker, was driving a car that eyewitnesses said struck two legally parked vehicles at 10:38 p.m. Tuesday in St. Paul.

Ten minutes later, according to Jordan, a St. Paul officer stopped the car near United Hospital. At that point, Leighton, 34, of Austin, was driving the vehicle and a woman, identified as Youngerman, was in the passenger seat bleeding.

Leighton told the officer he was driving the woman to the hospital after she agreed to drive him to his St. Paul residence. Youngerman, Leighton and other House DFL Caucus staffers and friends had gathered at a St. Paul bar and restaurant, where alcohol was consumed.

Youngerman, the owner of the car, was booked on suspicion of drunken driving and leaving the scene of the accident. In addition, she was charged with failing to take a breath test. She suffered a broken nose and cuts to the face, requiring nine stitches after being treated at the hospital where Leighton was en route to take her Tuesday evening.

Leighton was charged with driving under the influence and his blood-alcohol test revealed a 0.23 reading – or more than twice the legal limit of 0.1.

On Wednesday morning, Leighton apologized for his actions on the House floor and later that day, his attorney, Paul Rogosheske, held a news conference in St. Paul and explained his client’s actions and reaction to the accident and arrest.

Today, Leighton is dealing with the death and funeral of a great-aunt, Mary Kathryn Leighton, 86. This morning, in the midst of writing the eulogy for his great-aunt, Leighton again answered questions that have swirled around the legislator in the media firestorm that erupted this week.

"I have every intent to run again," Leighton said. "Ultimately, as it is in every election, it is up to the people to decide at the polls."

Leighton, who is married and the father of twin sons, is completing his third two-year term in office and already has announced his intentions to seek a fourth term.

He also said immediately after his apology on the House floor Wednesday morning that "colleagues from both parties offered their support and I very much appreciate their support."

"He added, "What has been really gratifying is the huge number of telephone calls and other gestures of support since the accident. It is gratifying and I am extremely grateful for this support."

Leighton said he would make himself available for assessment for possible counseling through the state of Minnesota’s employee assistance program.

He said Youngerman was "one of the many House DFL caucus staffers who work to recruit candidates and perform other office administrative duties."

As far as constituents in District 27B, Leighton said he has received no negative messages from anyone.

"I’ve only heard from people who are supportive of how I’m dealing with this whole situation," he said, "and I want those people to know I appreciate their support and will continue to do my job in the Legislature."

After a weekend in Austin with his wife and sons, Leighton said he would return to his legislative duties Monday morning.

Leighton is an assistant DFL minority leader in the House. He serves on civil law, jobs and economic development policy, rules and legislative administration and taxes committees.

House Majority GOP Leader Steve Sviggum (R-Kenyon) said no procedures have begun to deal with the legislator’s actions and that two members of the House would have to bring complaints of ethics violations to the House.

Leighton and Youngerman are scheduled to be arraigned on charges next week. Neither Youngerman or Leighton had prior drunk-driving arrests. The charge against Leighton is a gross misdemeanor.