Maher waives right to hearing
A 10-term Republican state representative from Upper St. Clair charged with drunken driving is now scheduled for formal arraignment in October at Cumberland County Courthouse after waiving his right to a preliminary hearing Tuesday before a district judge in suburban Harrisburg.
State Rep. John Maher, 58, remains free on his own recognizance after appearing before District Judge Richard S. Dougherty. Maher, according to a statewide online court docket, was represented by attorney Paul Richard Wagner of Harrisburg.
Maher’s 40th District includes Peters Township in Washington County, his home community of Upper St. Clair and part of Bethel Park.
East Pennsboro Township police filed two DUI charges including having a blood-alcohol content higher than 0.16 percent and summary offenses of driving the wrong way and making an illegal U-turn against Maher in early July. The legal limit in Pennsylvania is 0.08 percent, and police allege Maher registered 0.184 when his blood was drawn at a hospital.
Pulled over the night of June 13, Maher reportedly told the arresting officer he worked at the Capitol and he had been attending a dinner at a Hilton hotel, an event that was part of his job. The officer asked Maher how much he had to drink, and the lawmaker replied, “I had dinner, so,” police stated in the affidavit.
The officer then asked Maher to get out of his vehicle, noting in the affidavit Maher “walked to my position at the back of his car and almost fell into me while trying to stop walking.”
Police said Maher’s breath test registered 0.237 percent at the time of the traffic stop, where the lawmaker also told the patrolman he was attempting to drive to a nearby CVS store, court records allege.
The patrolman also indicated Maher wanted water after being taken in a cruiser to Carlisle Regional Hospital, saying the medication he was taking made him thirsty.
The DUI and related counts were listed as Maher’s first offenses.
Maher, who previously was a partner in an accounting firm, ran unsuccessfully as the GOP nominee for state auditor general in 2008, losing to then-state House colleague Eugene DePasquale III of York County, the current officeholder.