W&M BOV Member Faces Drunk in Public Charge

By Becky Koenig, of the W&M Flat Hat Thursday, October 06, 2011

College of William and Mary Board of Visitors member Laura Flippin, a 1992 graduate of the College, was charged with public intoxication on Stadium Drive early Friday morning.

Flippin, a lawyer from Northern Virginia who was in town attending the fall BOV meetings, was cited at 12:45 a.m. and charged with a Class 4 misdemeanor. She spent more than 12 hours at the Virginia Peninsula Regional jail.

Police were called to the 700 block of Scotland Street to aid a woman who had fallen; there, they found Flippin unsteady and bleeding. According to Williamsburg Police spokesman Maj. Greg Riley, the officer on the scene administered a preliminary breath test to Flippin, who registered a blood alcohol content of 0.253. The legal BAC limit for driving is 0.08, but to be cited for public intoxication, an individual must simply appear to be intoxicated.

“There was a strong odor of alcoholic beverage that was coming from her person, and her speech was slurred,” Riley said. “Medics were called to the scene, and she refused medics.”

According to Riley, police are required to take persons found to be intoxicated in public to a hospital or a jail. Because no local hospital has a detox center, Flippin was taken to jail, where she spent 12 hours before being released.

“She spent however long they determined was necessary for her to sober up,” Riley said.

BOV Rector Jeffrey B. Trammell expressed support for Flippin.

“I do want to say Laura is a devoted alumna of the College and a tireless member of the Board,” he said in a statement. “This is a legal matter, and that process must proceed accordingly. It would be inappropriate at this time to comment on the specifics of this unfortunate situation.”

Flippin did not return phone calls left Monday afternoon.

Flippin’s General District Court date is Oct. 17. State Senator Tommy Norment will be her lawyer.