Texico school board member charged with DWI

Texico School Board member Clifford Clay Franklin was arrested Wednesday on charges of driving while intoxicated and failure to yield following a car crash at U.S. 60/84 and State Road 467.

Franklin, 40, was taken into custody for the two misdemeanor charges after he failed a sobriety test, records show.

Franklin referred questions to his attorney, Dan Lindsey.

“It wasn’t his fault and he’s presumed innocent,” Lindsey said. “These are false charges and we’re going to represent him all the way.”

A criminal complaint filed Thursday states:

• Police arrived at the scene to find a red car with heavy driver-side damage and a white Ram truck with heavy front-end damage. Franklin identified himself as the driver of the white Ram. No one was injured.

• Franklin had difficulty maintaining his balance, staggered, tripped and had slurred speech while interacting with the officer.

• Franklin admitted fault for the crash and said he had been unable to see due to the rainy weather.

• Franklin said he had not been drinking. Officers reported the smell of an alcoholic beverage after Franklin entered the patrol car.

• Franklin was arrested after failing a breath test and field-sobriety test. Breath tests showed a blood-alcohol content of .10 and .09, both above the legal limit of .08.

Court records show Franklin was arraigned at 1:30 p.m. on Friday and released with a pre-trial hearing scheduled for 9 a.m. on Dec. 17.

Franklin was elected to the Texico school board in 2017.