Ariz. House speaker stands by aide in DUI case

PHOENIX (AP) - Arizona House Speaker Andy Tobin says he retains "complete confidence" in the chamber's chief of staff despite a 2010 extreme DUI conviction and the discovery of cocaine in the car driven by the aide.

Victor Riches pleaded guilty to extreme DUI but was not prosecuted for cocaine that police said they found in the leased car driven by Riches when he was arrested in April 2010.

Tobin says that Riches told him about the incident last year when Tobin was majority whip.

Tobin also says he was confident in then-Speaker Kirk Adams' ability to deal with the situation and that Riches took full responsibility for what Tobin called "his mistake."

Phoenix police said officers didn't believe they could prove Riches possessed the cocaine found in two bottles.

THIS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below.

Cocaine was found in a car driven by the Arizona House chief of staff when he was arrested for driving under the influence of alcohol at more than three times the state's legal limit, police said Tuesday.

Victor Riches, 39, was arrested early April 18, 2010, after being pulled over shortly before midnight and subsequently failing a blood test.

Riches pleaded guilty to one count of extreme DUI in a plea agreement that led to dismissal of 3 other DUI charges. But Riches did not face prosecution for cocaine that police reported finding in two small bottles of a "white powdery rocky substance" under or near the driver's seat of the leased car that Riches was driving.

A police spokesman said a lab test later determined that substance was cocaine but that officers concluded they couldn't prove possession of the cocaine by Riches.

Riches denied the drug was his and Sgt. Trent Crump said other factors were that the car was not owned by Riches and that nobody saw Riches with the drug. The officers involved did not know Riches was a political figure, Crump said.

Former House Speaker Kirk Adams, who was speaker all of last year, said in a brief statement emailed to The Associated Press that he knew of Riches' arrest.

"Victor came forward last year about this incident and was honest about it. Based on his candor, solid performance before and after this incident and commitment to handling it appropriately and doing what was necessarily legal, I made the decision to keep him on staff," Adams said.

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