PASSAGE OF THE DAY: "WSMV4 Investigates asked Governor Bill Lee this week if he felt the THP needed to review how it’s conducting DUI investigations. “I think we have, in fact, put in place this past year a requirement from the TBI to provide transparency of those cases,” Lee said. “I think that’s the first step, transparency.” The Governor referred to a new state law prompted by our “Sobering Problem” investigations, which will require the TBI to gather all the sober drivers arrested for DUI, and the police agencies that arrested them, in 2025. But that report won’t include cases like Bondurant’s, as she was arrested last November. It also won’t include how the drivers are impacted by the arrests. After her arrest, Bondurant learned her insurance was being dropped. “I just called the (insurance) guy, and I said, ‘Is this because of the DUI?’ And he said yes,” Bondurant said. But three days before that, Bondurant’s charges were nolled, and her insurance was ultimately not cancelled."
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STORY: "Former US attorney is 8th sober driver to be arrested for DUI by state trooper," Jeremy Finley reports one of WSMV4, one August 27, 2025. (Jeremy Finley is the chief investigative reporter for WSMV4 Investigates. He specializes in investigations into political corruption, criminal activity and waste of taxpayer money. He is also the anchor of WSMV4 at 5:00.)
SUB-HEADING: "WSMV4 Investigates has confirmed that eight separate drivers have all been arrested by the same trooper."
HIST: " A former US attorney from Kentucky is the latest sober driver to be arrested by THP trooper James Zahn.
Last week, WSMV4 Investigates reported that we’d discovered seven sober drivers had all been arrested by Zahn for DUI.
After that story aired, former U.S. Attorney Jane Bondurant called WSMV4 Investigates to say she, too, had been arrested by Zahn.
“I think I’m eight people too many,” Bondurant said.
Bondurant was arrested last November in Franklin after getting into a fender bender with a Franklin police officer.
The arrest report indicates Trooper Zahn was called in, and he wrote that Bondurant had bloodshot watery eyes and appeared to be impaired.
“Keep in mind, I’m 71 years old, I’ve been in a wreck,” Bondurant said. “I felt like I was doing really well (on the field sobriety test), and I felt like my friend with me felt the same way.”
WSMV4 Investigates asked Bondurant why her friend decided to record the arrest on her phone.
“I think she was so shocked that I’d even been arrested and that I was even doing it,” Bondurant said.
Bondurant, who served as a U.S. attorney in Louisville, said that after her arrest, she was handcuffed to a wall in the jail.
“Shock was the first reaction. Trauma. And the trauma lasted for months, because it took months for it to be resolved,” Bondurant said.
Her bloodwork would later come back showing no alcohol and no drugs, except for her sleep medication she’d taken the night before. The charge was nolled, which means prosecutors opted not to prosecute.
“I’m wondering what you think the THP should do,” WSMV4 Investigates asked.
“I know they’ve got a problem person,” Bondurant said.
Bondurant is now the 16th sober driver identified by WSMV4 Investigates to be arrested by a state trooper for DUI.
WSMV4 Investigates asked Governor Bill Lee this week if he felt the THP needed to review how it’s conducting DUI investigations.
“I think we have, in fact, put in place this past year a requirement from the TBI to provide transparency of those cases,” Lee said. “I think that’s the first step, transparency.”
The Governor referred to a new state law prompted by our “Sobering Problem” investigations, which will require the TBI to gather all the sober drivers arrested for DUI, and the police agencies that arrested them, in 2025.
But that report won’t include cases like Bondurant’s, as she was arrested last November.
It also won’t include how the drivers are impacted by the arrests. After her arrest, Bondurant learned her insurance was being dropped.
“I just called the (insurance) guy, and I said, ‘Is this because of the DUI?’ And he said yes,” Bondurant said.
But three days before that, Bondurant’s charges were nolled, and her insurance was ultimately not cancelled.
WSMV4 Investigates contacted the THP for an interview, but we received a statement that did not address our questions.
Their statement read in part, “Each case has a unique set of facts, and Troopers are highly trained to identify signs of impairment, as current blood tests do not identify the presence of every drug.”
If there’s something you want WSMV4 Investigates to know for this, please email Jeremy.finley@wsmv.com.""
The entire story can be read at:
PUBLISHER'S NOTE: I am monitoring this case/issue/resource. Keep your eye on the Charles Smith Blog for reports on developments. The Toronto Star, my previous employer for more than twenty incredible years, has put considerable effort into exposing the harm caused by Dr. Charles Smith and his protectors - and into pushing for reform of Ontario's forensic pediatric pathology system. The Star has a "topic" section which focuses on recent stories related to Dr. Charles Smith. It can be found at: http://www.thestar.com/topic/charlessmith. Information on "The Charles Smith Blog Award"- and its nomination process - can be found at: http://smithforensic.blogspot.com/2011/05/charles-smith-blog-award-nominations.html Please send any comments or information on other cases and issues of interest to the readers of this blog to: hlevy15@gmail.com. Harold Levy: Publisher: The Charles Smith Blog.
SEE BREAKDOWN OF SOME OF THE ON-GOING INTERNATIONAL CASES (OUTSIDE OF THE CONTINENTAL USA) THAT I AM FOLLOWING ON THIS BLOG, AT THE LINK BELOW: HL:
https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/120008354894645705/4704913685758792985
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FINAL WORD: (Applicable to all of our wrongful conviction cases): "Whenever there is a wrongful conviction, it exposes errors in our criminal legal system, and we hope that this case — and lessons from it — can prevent future injustices."
Lawyer Radha Natarajan:
Executive Director: New England Innocence Project;
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FINAL, FINAL WORD: "Since its inception, the Innocence Project has pushed the criminal legal system to confront and correct the laws and policies that cause and contribute to wrongful convictions. They never shied away from the hard cases — the ones involving eyewitness identifications, confessions, and bite marks. Instead, in the course of presenting scientific evidence of innocence, they've exposed the unreliability of evidence that was, for centuries, deemed untouchable." So true!
Christina Swarns: Executive Director: The Innocence Project;
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