Starkville declined to prosecute Mississippi State University defensive lineman Nick James Thursday for driving under the influence and disturbing the peace, court documents show.
City police arrested James during a traffic stop early Sunday morning.
Prosecutor Caroline Moore and Starkville Police Chief Frank Nichols signed the non-prosecution order to which Municipal Court Judge Rodney Faver agreed.
It was not immediately known why the charges were dropped.
Moore did not return a phone call Thursday, and James’ attorney, Jay Perry, did not provide a statement on the order.
A uniform traffic ticket noting the DUI charge shows James was stopped about 1 a.m. in the Cotton District after a patrolman heard loud music coming from James’ white GMC Sierra.
The ticket is also marked as James’ second DUI offense.
Boxes alleging “under the influence” and “under the influence … which impaired such person’s ability to operate a motor vehicle” are both checked on the ticket, but it does not note if James was tested for alcohol or any results from such a test.
In an affidavit against James, Officer Drew Jones wrote he was at the intersection of Maxwell Street and Cotton Row when James’ vehicle approached from behind. The music coming from James’ vehicle “shook my rearview mirror,” Jones wrote in the affidavit.
The maximum penalty a disturbing the peace conviction carries is a $500 fine and a six-month jail sentence. A DUI second conviction, occurring within five years of the first offense, carries with it a $600-$1,500 fine and at least five days in jail.
The Dispatch previously reported James has been arrested four times while at MSU. He was arrested for public intoxication in 2015, driving with a suspended license and disorderly conduct in 2014 and driving without insurance in 2013.
Information about any previous DUI charges was not immediately available Thursday.
Jones was also present during a March 12 traffic stop that yielded speeding and DUI charges against former MSU quarterback Dak Prescott. In video evidence presented during the trial, Jones insisted Prescott was intoxicated at the time, saying, “This is what we do (as DUI enforcement officers).”
Following an onsite breathalyzer test that confirmed the presence of alcohol on Prescott’s breath — he also admitted to having a beer before the stop — two Intoxilyzer 8000 tests performed by officers failed to record his breath alcohol level. One sample was marked “invalid,” while a second test registered “insufficient.”
Prescott was acquitted of both charges in July.
Carl Smith covers Starkville and Oktibbeha County for The Dispatch. Follow him on Twitter @StarkDispatch
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