By David Craig
PORTLAND, Ore. -- Olympic gold medalist Bill Johnson was released late Monday after spending a weekend in jail for charges stemming from a traffic stop.
Johnson''s family posted bail. Johnson, who was charged with assaulting police officers, driving under the influence of alcohol and resisting arrest, left the Multnomah County jail shortly thereafter.
A county police deputy and Troutdale police officer stopped Johnson near his mother''s house in Gresham at about 4 p.m. last Friday. Johnson allegedly taunted the officers with his gold medal, which he won in the 1984 Winter Olympics in Sarajevo in downhill skiing, before punching the deputy and kicking the Troutdale officer in the groin.
According to Traci Anderson, the prosecutor handling the case, Johnson did allow the officers to perform breath tests for alcohol, took part in a field sobriety test and provided a urine sample. The results of the tests remain confidential.
Defense lawyer Gerald Doblie told the Associated Press, while he has little difficulty in daily life, Johnson suffers from poor judgment and impulsiveness stemming from a March 2001 head injury sustained in a crash during an attempted comeback into skiing. The injury left Johnson in a coma for weeks.
'I worry about him all the time because he can''t explain or express himself,' Johnson''s mother told the AP Monday.
Johnson will face an evaluation for supervised release. Multnomah County Circuit Judge Steven Todd told the AP that he would forbid Johnson from driving or drinking alcohol if a release is recommended.
Conditions like Johnson''s may affect sentencing, but it does not prevent officers from making arrests, said Lieutenant Jerry Harper of the Provo Police Department. It is up to the courts to make those decisions, he said. Although officers receive training for such situations, their responsibility is to enforce the law.