"Lights Out" councilman still awaiting drunk-driving trial

  GROSSE POINTE WOODS - Eight months after he crunched a street light post, hit a tree and ripped up a lawn on Lake Shore Drive during the early morning hours of last July 6, Woods' rookie Council Member Michael Koester still has not gone to trial for drunk driving.
   So far Koester's lawyer - who also happens to be the Woods' appointed city attorney, Don Berschback - has managed to have at least two trial dates postponed, the most recent a week ago before Grosse Pointe Shores Municipal Judge Matt Rumora.
   Koester was arrested July 6 at the scene of the accident and charged with OWI, operating a motor vehicle while intoxicated. According the police report, which was heavily redacted by Grosse Pointe Shores Chief John Schulte, Koester had a blood alcohol level of .08 - well above the allowable limit - when he was tested at the scene.
   The arresting officer said in his report that although Koester's pickup truck bore signs of a collision and he was found with it at the scene, the Woods council member denied having struck the light pole or causing any damage.
   He spent several hours in a jail cell at the Grosse Pointe Woods police station before being released on $500 personal bond.
    Koester, who was 30 at the time of the incident, apologized to Woods' voters but declined to resign his council seat. He had been elected unopposed to an open seat in November 2011.
   Why his trial date repeatedly has been stalled is a interesting question. The only explanation given so far is that Koester is contesting the results of a breath test he was given while in custody in the Woods' lockup.
    Insisting that there's no conflict of interest in his action, Woods' city attorney Don Berschback has said he's representing Councilman Koester "pro bono," or without charge. Koester recused himself from voting Feb. 24 when the council agreed, 6-0, to pay the Berschback law firm $8,400 for the city's previous month's legal work.

   (Pete Waldmeir is a former Detroit News award-winning columnist. He also served four years on the Grosse Pointe Woods city council, 2006-2009.)