Albany NY

Source: Times Union, Albany, N.迷你倉Y.Sept. 09--TROY -- Fearing they'll miss the next court appearance of "The Partridge Family" star David Cassidy, local and national reporters have kept the phones ringing in the county courthouse to keep updated on the one-time teen heartthrob's drunken driving case.Early speculation was that Cassidy, who lives in Florida, would waive a court appearance and have his local attorney, Lucas Mihuta, handle matters for him.Not so."He will have to appear," Rensselaer County District Attorney Richard McNally said.McNally said the sides, as is all cases, are in negotiations for a potential plea and in Cassidy's case it may be handled as a "pre-plea" which means he could enter a plea and be sentenced on the same day.If the charge remains a felony, Cassidy will have to appear in county court. If, however, Cassidy is able to get it reduced to a misdemeanor through plea negotiations, he would have to make the appearance in Schodack town court, McNally said.Cassidy, 63, did not dim his headlights when approaching Schodack Town Police Officer Tom Jones' patrol car on Columbia Turnpike at 12:08 a.m. Aug. 21, police said. Jones turned around, pulled him over and charged Cassidy with felony driving while intoxicated. Cassidy, who lives in Fort Lauderdale, had a blood alcohol content of .10 percent, police said. He is free on $2,500 bail.Police said Ca文件倉sidy, who arrived at the Albany International Airport on a flight from Las Vegas, was driving a Volvo S60 rental car with his fiancee to visit her friends in North Chatham when his car was stopped.The case was transferred from town court to Rensselaer County court because of the felony charge. Cassidy faced the higher charged because of a prior driving under the influence conviction in Florida.The case has yet to be assigned to a county judge.Cassidy has waived his speedy trial right so it could be months before the case is resolved."There are some officials also calling for him to appear locally to talk about the dangers of drinking and driving as part of any plea," McNally said though he did not identify them.Mihuta did not return calls for comment.Cassidy's local brush with the law was a little more comical than most. When Officer Tom Jones told Cassidy his name during the arrest, Cassidy jokingly replied: "What's new, pussycat?"Jones, a young rookie, had no idea what Cassidy was talking about because he was unfamiliar with his namesake crooner, Tom Jones, the Welsh pop star who had a hit with a song of the same name years before the officer was born.bgardinier@timesunion.com, 518-454-5696, @BobGardinierCopyright: ___ (c)2013 the Times Union (Albany, N.Y.) Visit the Times Union (Albany, N.Y.) at .timesunion.com Distributed by MCT Information Services存倉