Rima Fakih, Ex-Miss USA, Appears In Mich. Court On Drunk Driving Charge

HIGHLAND PARK, Mich. -- A Michigan beauty queen who made headlines two years ago by becoming the first Arab-American crowned Miss USA will stand trial in March on a drunken-driving charge unless a plea deal is reached, a judge said Wednesday.

Judge Brigette Officer set a March 14 trial date for Rima Fakih, who made her first court appearance since the Dec. 3 traffic stop in the Detroit enclave of Highland Park. Fakih, 26, has said she wasn't drinking that night, but two police breath tests put her blood alcohol content at over twice the legal limit.

"I apologize. My lawyer doesn't want me to talk," Fakih told reporters outside court.

Fakih, whose family moved to New York from Lebanon in 1993 and then to Detroit suburb of Dearborn 10 years later, won the Miss USA Pageant in 2010, becoming the first Arab-American to do so. Supporters described her win as a victory for diversity, saying it countered negative stereotypes about people of Middle Eastern descent that have flourished in post-9/11 America.

Fakih's lawyer, W. Otis Culpepper, said he'll prepare for a trial but knows a plea bargain is also possible. He said he anticipates that a "proper conclusion" will be reached.

"Of course she's remorseful," Culpepper said. "She's a model for young women. ... She's a woman of substantial character."

Police said Fakih was driving 60 mph in a 30 mph zone and weaving in and out of traffic before they pulled her over, and that officers found an open bottle of champagne behind the driver's seat of the 2011 Jaguar.

Fakih denied that she had been drinking, but one breath test put her blood alcohol content at 0.20 percent and another put it at 0.19 percent – both above the legal limit of 0.08. She's charged with drunken driving, careless driving and having an open container of alcohol, all misdemeanors.

Before the hearing, assistant city attorney Mohammed A. Nasser told The Associated Press that he was new to the case and hadn't spoken yet to Culpepper about a settlement.

Comments

[Peter Burbank]

08:47 AM on 01/27/2012

I want to give her comforting!

[happyblackman]

08:24 PM on 01/24/2012

So hot! So very hot!

[wonderfullone]

11:25 PM on 01/22/2012

So she's a model for young women.------------Driving while being over 2 times the legal limit is hardly a role model.-----------------She's a good example of a bad example.

[mother10]

09:52 PM on 01/20/2012

Yep, she looks like she drinks a lot

[Lana Simard]

01:32 PM on 01/20/2012

Maybe she will learn from all this. Stop drinking or drinking and driving. Who knows?

[rockysparks]

10:13 AM on 01/20/2012

Hey, an ex-beauty queen drinks and drives, gets caught. She'll pay her fine, maybe do community service, hopefully learn from the experience and go and sin no more.

It's not like she'll be an over-the-hill beauty queen who, while looking to extend her 15 minutes of fame, goes on Fox News and makes herself look like a fool reading lies she's told to read. That'll never happen. For one thing, she's not blonde --- right, Gretchen Carlson?

[JudKast]

05:50 PM on 01/19/2012

Makes no different what race, culture or religion she is - she blew a level above the limits and is now denying it. This will be plea bargained out and she will be let off the hook this time. Let's see if something else happens with her. Personally, I hope not and she goes on to lead a productive life and a good mentor to others for the other fine qualities she possesses. Let's wish the best for her and not judge her for her muslim faith if she happens to be one. We in America can be so judgemental and at the same time so forgiving.

[Highball]

05:27 AM on 01/20/2012

I basically agree with all of this.

I'm not yet 100% convinced that she actually failed the breath tests, but I do think it is likely. Cops, after all, are known to lie. But, as I said, it's more likely that she had been drinking.

I hope she just makes a deal, pays her fine, goes to her alcohol awareness classes and puts this behind her.

[cheechazteca]

05:45 PM on 01/19/2012

Prohibition!

[Fattonecat]

12:15 PM on 01/25/2012

......it worked so well the first time.....

[headedleft]

05:37 PM on 01/19/2012

The main religions in Lebanon are Christianity and Shia. Sharia law is the muslim law. Just because she is from somewhere else does not make her a terrorist. The article does not say she is muslim. No wonder so many innocent people are in jail if the comments i am reading here are from people that make up jury pools.

I know 4 people killed in two different accidents by drunk drivers not to mention all the pain caused by their selfish actions. I notice this young women gets a pass because she is attractive. If guilty she should be made to bare the consequences. Once you kill someone they are dead all the sorrys in the worl won't bring them back.

[ZeroCoke]

05:44 PM on 01/19/2012

uh.. a lot of rambling just to bring up the fact that she's Arab-American
i sense a sinister motive
and she didn't ki// anyone.

[headedleft]

08:07 PM on 01/19/2012

i do ramble every once and awhile. I was refering to all the shiria law comments and muslim nonsense. i will try to be more brief.

[LandusX]

05:30 PM on 01/19/2012

Simple as when you drink be very responsible and make the right decision not to operate a vehicle, it says it on the very bottle your drinking from.

[Aquiver]

05:28 PM on 01/19/2012

IT seems like life starts going downhill pretty quickly for a lot of these beauty pagent winners.

[JackMcSpades]

05:03 PM on 01/19/2012

She deserves nothing more than a slap on the wrist. But oh, thanks to a bunch of whiners and crybabies, we have to treat people who drink and drive as if theyre harboring Nazis.
I hope everyone whos ever supported MADD is wrongfully arrested in a 3rd world country someday

[rockysparks]

10:08 AM on 01/20/2012

I hope no one you love is ever killed by a drunk driver.

[Fattonecat]

12:17 PM on 01/25/2012

Let us know when YOU kill someone while drinking & driving.

[Carys Germany]

04:50 PM on 01/19/2012

how hard is it to call someone or a cab? no excuses.

[Elroy Jetson]

04:17 PM on 01/19/2012

Wow, we're being very critical and tough on her for one bad mistake. ...but then again, it is the one bad mistake that could have ended up with multiple fatalities and ruined lives forever....

[mdipary2004]

03:53 PM on 01/19/2012

Twice the legal limit. What a role model for young girls. She will get away with it women allways do.

[Elroy Jetson]

04:12 PM on 01/19/2012

But her Lawyer said, ""She's a model for young women. ... She's a woman of substantial character." LOL! (I think more likely substantial abuse.) She'll pick up trash for a couple of days along the intersate and have her photo taken with the Highway Patrol guards.