Seattle Seahawks fullback Owen Schmitt was arraigned in Black Diamond on July 2 for a charge of suspicion of DUI in June and pleaded not guilty.

Schmitt is scheduled to appear in a pre-trial hearing on July 22.

The way I am reading the NFL's substance abuse policy, it looks to me like Jordan Babineaux committed some alcohol-related offense that went beyond a mere arrest.

It is not, if I am reading it correctly, substance abuse. If it was that, he would go through several intervention programs and be suspended for up to four games for a second offense. If it was for a violation of the law with substances other than alcohol, he could be suspended for up to four games.

But with alcohol-related offenses, the policy says the discipline is generally 2/17th of a player's salary. Babineaux was suspended for one game, but he also was docked another game's pay. The policy goes on to say: If the Commissioner finds that there were aggravating circumstances ... increased discipline up to and including suspension may be imposed. Discipline for a second or subsequent offense is likely to be a suspension, the duration of which may escalate with each offense.

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Here is my story on Warren Moon that will appear in tomorrow's News Tribune:

KIRKLAND – Hall of Fame quarterback Warren Moon, who also serves as the Seattle Seahawks’ color announcer on radio, apologized on Thursday for his latest scrape with the law.
Moon, who pled guilty to negligent driving on Tuesday after being arrested for DUI for the second time in eight months, confirmed that he will back this season with partner Steve Raible, but also understands that he is getting no other chances.
“The writing is on the wall that that is pretty much the way it is going to be,” Moon said after meeting with reporters following the morning practice. “It’s kind of like three strikes and you’re out. But I’m not going to just base it all on just my job. It’s something that I don’t want to go through again personally.
“I really look at myself as being a person that has high integrity and high character and I've worked a lot of years to get to that. To have these type of errors in judgment is something that's not part of my character. It's something I’m deeply sorry about. I'm sorry that I've put myself, my family and also the Seahawks organization in this type of position.”

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Buffalo running back Marshawn Lynch will not be suspended by the league for his hit-and-run accident, meaning he will be playing in the season opener against the Seahawks. Here is the link to the story.

Seattle Seahawks middle linebacker Lofa Tatupu entered a lawyer's plea of not guilty in his DUI case in Kirkland Municipal Court this morning.

Tatupu's attorney, Jon Fox, said the lawyer's plea allows things to remain status quo while Tatupu keeps his options open. Fox said he continues to have dialogue with the prosecutor's office. Fox said they hope to come to a "positive resolution" of the case.

The whole thing took about five minutes once court actually started. Lofa's case was the first to be heard, creating some grumbling from other defendants in court that the "star football player gets preferential treatment." Personally, I think Fox just knows how to work the system and gets his client processed in a timely fashion.

The judge initially tried to have another hearing scheduled for Aug. 4, but Fox had it moved up to July 7, presumably because Aug. 4 is during the Seahawks' training camp.

Tatupu was charged with DUI on May 10 after registering a 0.155 and a 0.158 on a breathalyzer test. He had not spoken to the media since the arrest.

Tatupu did not speak to four reporters at this morning's arraignment, and only spoke to the judge to clarify his first name (Mosiula). Fox spoke to us just to clarify what the lawyer's plea was, and Tatupu was trailed out to his car by a local television cameraman. Otherwise, that was really it.

By Frank Hughes
Frank.hughes@thenewstribune.com

KIRKLAND – Seattle Seahawks linebacker Lofa Tatupu has officially been charged with driving under the influence of alcohol, for which he was arrested on May 10.
Tatupu has an arraignment hearing in Kirkland Municipal Court on June 17 at 8:45 a.m.
His attorney, Jon Fox, was not immediately available for comment. Tatupu practiced with the team at Monday’s morning’s mini-camp at the team’s practice facility but the team did not make him available for interviews. The Seahawks had no immediate comment.

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Seahawks defensive tackle Rocky Bernard was granted a two-week continuance this morning, meaning his pre-trial hearing will be held at 10 a.m. on June 16.

"This will give us a chance to do some more investigation," said Bernard's attorney, Jon Fox (the man on the far left in the picture above). "We also could have some meaningful discussion with the Prosecutor about the case."

What might that discussion entail?

"We would discuss the facts and see if there is a way to resolve it," Fox said. "We would also go over discovery and procedural standards."

While many of the other defendants were dressed in street clothes, Rocky was wearing a dark blue suit with a pinstriped dress shirt and tie. He entered the courtroom just before his case was called, sat down for less than five minutes then had his case called. From the beginning to end, it took about five minutes.

I'm heading out to Kirkland right now for the team's mini-camp, which started two minutes ago and ends in about 88 minutes.

The Seahawks will have four days of one-practice voluntary mini-camps starting next Monday. Defensive tackle Rocky Bernard will not be present for at least the Monday session because I have confirmed that he still has a pre-trial hearing on his domestic assault arrest in Seattle Municipal Court at 10 a.m. Monday morning, a half hour before practice begins. According to the Washington state courts web site, Lofa Tatupu still has not been charged with a DUI.

With the league instituting a policy that will hold teams accountable for their players' actions in the form of fines, the Seahawks could have been lined up in the crosshairs of that decision given the recent arrests of Rocky Bernard and Lofa Tatupu. However, the league has told FoxSports.com that teams will only be held liable for offenses that occur after June 1, meaning regardless of what happens with Bernard and Tatupu in the judicial system, the organization will not be hit with a fine.

I called the Kirkland Municipal Court, who said they have not yet seen Lofa Tatupu's case forwarded to them from the Prosecutor's office. I then called the Prosecutor's office, and the woman who answered the phone said the prosecutor is reviewing the case to determine if they are going to charge him. She did not have any other details, or whether there is a chance that he is not charged. She said she did not know how long it would take to determine if they are going to charge him. Not much of an update, other than he has not yet formally been charged.

I was talking last night to my neighbor, who happens to be an attorney, and the conversation ultimately led to Lofa Tatupu's arrest for DUI. He said he had been listening to KJR read some of the details of the police report, but he said he got to work and couldn't hear the rest of it. So I filled him in, and told him about the part where the arresting officer forgot to read Tatupu his Miranda Rights at the location where he was arrested (McDonald's). Once he realized it on the way to the police station, the officer pulled over to the side of the road and read him his rights. "I can almost guarantee you his arrest gets thrown out," my neighbor said. "We have a saying in the business, 'You can't admit fruit from a poisoned tree.' That is way more than a technicality."

Take that for what it's worth but it may make it easier for the Seahawks to skirt the issue if it never becomes an issue for procedural purposes.

"I want to apologize to my family, teammates, the Seahawks ownership and organization, and the fans for making a poor decision and putting myself in a bad situation. I take seriously my role as a leader on this team, and in the community, and because of that I'm disappointed and embarrassed by the level of poor judgment I used last weekend. Thankfully, nobody was hurt. This will never happen again, and I hope through hard work on and off the field to begin earning your respect and trust again."