Now, part 1254 in our never-ending series of television stars being charged with DUIs. Today we focus on Shemar Moore, who plays FBI profiler Derek Morgan on the CBS series Criminal Minds. On Tuesday the 37-year-old actor pleaded no contest in an alcohol-related speeding case.
Shemar was arrested on June 1st by members of the California Highway Patrol (most likely Ponch and Jon) for driving faster than 65 mph on a city street. Later in the month a DUI charge was added. If this took place in Los Angeles I'd like to know what the time of arrest was because there's no way in hell someone can drive anywhere near 65 mph on a L.A. city street during the day!
Earlier this month Bob reported on the arrest of Extreme Makeover: Home Edition host Ty Pennington in a drunk driving case. Back then, the Trading Spaces alum was charged with two misdemeanor counts: driving with a blood-alcohol level above the 0.08 percent limit and driving under the influence of alcohol. Last week he entered a plea of 'no contest' to the charges.
Actually, according to Frank Mateljan, a spokesman for the city attorney's office, Pennington entered the plea for the first charge only since the other count was dismissed (which is normal for a first offense, according to Mateljan). The judge in the case placed Pennington on three years probation, restricted his driving privileges for 90 days and ordered him to participate in a 90-day alcohol program and attend a Mothers Against Drunk Drivers meeting. He also had the phrase 'I'm a television star and I'm stupid' etched into his forehead. All right, I made that last one up, but it would be apropos in this case.
In a statement released by his publicist, Pennington said that he was glad to bring closure to his recent court proceedings. He also added that drinking and driving are never acceptable. Um, don't you think you should have thought about that in the first place, Ty?