Special Treatment For Dominic Rhodes

As further proof there are two forms of justice in this town, yesterday the Marion Co. Prosecutor dismissed DUI charges against former Colts' player Dominic Rhodes. Rhodes' attorney used as an excuse for dismissing the charges the claim that there was a difference in the state police trooper's initial handwritten probable cause affidavit and the typewritten supplement prepared days later. "One issue: Trooper Ahmad I. Hafez did not identify Rhodes by name in the first document," writes the Star's Jon Murray. Here are the facts of the arrest:

In the Feb. 20 incident, Rhodes' blood-alcohol level tested at 0.09, just over the 0.08 level at which an Indiana driver is considered drunk.

The trooper clocked Rhodes at 82 mph in a 55-mph zone about 3 a.m. on northbound I-65 near 71st Street and watched his GMC Yukon drift briefly onto the shoulder.

Rhodes, 28, told the trooper he had consumed two or three alcoholic drinks, according to the probable cause affidavit.

The report also indicated Rhodes urinated in his pants during the arrest. Marion Co. Prosecutor Carl Brizzi is insisting Rhodes didn't receive special treatment. "Rhodes' celebrity status had nothing to do with the plea deal, Prosecutor Carl Brizzi said." As to testing over the blood-alcohol level, Brizzi said, "It's right in the range where there's some flexibility in how we deal with these cases," Brizzi said. Ask any average joe on the street who's been charged with a blood-alcohol level of .08, let alone .09 and you'll learn the prosecutor's office never cuts them any slack. And there's never any evidence problems in those cases.