Atlanta

Atlanta Hawks coach Mike Budenholzer fights DUI arrest

ATLANTA — After multiple postponements, a new trial date has been set for Atlanta Hawks coach Mike Budenholzer in his driving under the influence case.

Budenholzer was arrested for DUI in an August 2013 traffic stop.

Budenholzer's trial on that misdemeanor DUI charge was supposed to start tomorrow.

Budenholzer has fought the charge for nearly three years now.

This latest delay is a compromise of sorts to accommodate the schedule of the Hawks former general manager Danny Ferry, subpoenaed by Budenholzer’s legal team.

READ: Budenholzer named new Hawks head coach

Lawyers for Budenholzer had asked the judge to reconsider her earlier ruling, which refused to allow Ferry to testify on Budenholzer's behalf by video conference from New Orleans, where he now works as an executive with The Pelicans.

The coach's legal team subpoenaed Ferry to corroborate Budenholzer's claims that he only had one glass of wine the night he was arrested.

Ferry's lawyer argued appearing in person would be a significant burden to him and his new team.

%

INLINE

%

"Mr. Ferry had no control over when this trial was set, no influence, no nothing," attorney Lawrence Ashe said.

A Georgia state trooper stopped Budenholzer for a tail light violation, but wrote in his report that after asking for the coach's license, he noticed Budenholzer had blood shot and watery eyes.

Budenholzer refused a breath test, but his lawyer says coach took a blood test after getting out of jail that showed he had a .01 blood alcohol level, which is below the state’s legal limit of .08.

Meantime, the judge pushed the trial back until Monday to accommodate Ferry's schedule.

"Mr. Ferry wants to contribute to justice and honor the lawful subpoena," Ashe said.

A judge is hearing testimony and arguments on a complicated motion to exclude coach's initial refusal of a breath test.

The trial is now set to begin on Monday with Ferry in the courtroom.