Former Seahawks CB Jeremy Lane pleads guilty to reckless driving

REDMOND, Wash. -- Former Seahawks cornerback Jeremy Lane pleaded guilty Monday to a reduced charge of reckless driving after initially being charged with driving under the influence.

Lane, 27, who was released by the Seahawks earlier this month and is now a free agent, is to be sentenced May 4.

Lane was drafted by the Seahawks in the sixth round of the 2012 NFL Draft.  On March 9, Lane was released by the Seahawks along with fellow cornerback Richard Sherman.

In the charging document in King County District Court, prosecutors said Lane was arrested for DUI on Jan. 14.

Though a breath test showed Lane’s blood-alcohol content was .039 – below the .08 that Washington considers automatic evidence of legal impairment – Lane’s car smelled of marijuana smoke, and Lane allegedly told the Washington State Patrol trooper “this time I was more high than anything.”

According to the police report:

The trooper first noticed Lane’s Dodge Charger as it was going east on I-90 between Seattle and Mercer Island at 80 mph with the hazard lights flashing and the car changing  multiple lanes without signaling.

When the trooper approached the car, he smelled “a strong odor of burned marijuana,” and Lane said he was hurrying home because his alarm had been triggered.

The trooper smelled alcohol, but Lane said he hadn’t had anything to drink and said he hadn’t smoked marijuana for about three hours.

Lane agreed to a series of voluntary field sobriety tests and, after the trooper said he noticed signs of intoxication in all of them, Lane agreed to the breath test that registered .039.

The trooper arrested Lane and took him to the hospital for a blood test. The trooper said Lane was confused about why he was being arrested for DUI after the .039 breath test – Lane tweeted to that effect Monday morning, saying “A fail DUI is .08 right? I blew .03 why was still arrest !!! I’ll Leave it at that” – and the trooper said he suspected impairment based on a combination of marijuana and alcohol.

The trooper said that on the way to the hospital, Lane said he “didn’t want people thinking I was drunk” and “this time, I was more high than anything.”