Jalen Rose Sentenced to 20 Days Jail for Drunken Driving

BLOOMFIELD TOWNSHIP — Former U-M and NBA basketball star Jalen Rose has been ordered to serve 20 days in jail for operating a motor vehicle while intoxicated in West Bloomfield.

Wednesday in 48th District Court, Judge Kimberly Small initially ordered the Rose, now an ESPN analyst, to serve 93 days, but she suspended all but 20 of those days in addition to ordering one year of probation. During his probation period, Small ordered Rose not to use alcohol or drugs and to complete an alcohol awareness program and attends alcohol impact sessions with the victims and survivors of drunken driving incidents. He was also ordered to pay a $300 fine.

During the 40-minute sentencing, Small told Rose she did not believe that he was an addict, rather, that she wanted to “send a message” that drunken drivers would be punished if caught. “You’re not here because you drank,” she said. “I don’t mind that … I do mind when you get behind the wheel of a two-ton vehicle and use it as a weapon.”

Although most convicts are taken directly from the courtroom to jail, Small allowed Rose to report to jail on Tuesday. Rose’s attorneys said his grandmother was flying into town over the weekend and that he wished to spend time with her.

Rose told Small, “I have no one to blame but myself,” and said after sentencing that he felt apologetic. “I never plea bargained,” Rose said. “I know I let a lot of people down … let it be a lesson for other drivers.”

Rose, 38, was arrested early in the morning March 11 after crashing his Cadillac Escalade on Walnut Lake Road, west of Middlebelt Road. No one was injured in the single-vehicle crash that included one passenger.

Rose registered a 0.08 percent on a roadside Breathalyzer, which is the legal limit to be considered drunken driving. A later blood test showed a blood alcohol content level of 0.12 percent.

, a 93-day misdemeanor. Small said it was Rose’s first offense.

Bloomfield Hills-based attorney James Burdick asked Small to sentence Rose to anything but jail time, noting his philanthropic contributions as well as Rose’s difficult upbringing in living without knowing his father. “(Rose) has dedicated his life to helping those from similar circumstances achieve the level of success that he has worked his entire life towards,” Burdick told Small.

Small received several letters in a memorandum prior to sentencing pleading for her to consider Rose’s history in handing down the sentence, including one from Detroit Mayor David Bing.

Small said that while she admired Rose for his work and wished that they had met under different circumstances, she felt a sense of duty to protect the community. “Your attorneys have really done a fabulous job,” she said. “I have to look at you and through you to the community I’m to protect.”

California-based attorney Keith Davidson said that while there may not be a chance to appeal, different means were being considered to avoid jail before Rose reports Tuesday. “This is nothing more than an elected judge legislating from the bench,” Davidson said.