The Republic obtained state Department of Public Safety records describing a 1988 car crash involving Jan Brewer, who was then a state senator.
AZ Fact Check looked at several issues in those documents, including whether Brewer was at fault in an alcohol-related crash and whether she received special treatment.
Brewer confirmed the basic details of the crash, as did the widow of the man Brewer hit. The DPS has not reproduced the records; The Republic obtained the records from another source.
WHAT WE'RE LOOKING AT: Was Brewer involved in an alcohol-related crash, and was she at fault?
ANALYSIS: On May 4, 1988, a car driven by Brewer rear-ended a van on Interstate 17.
The van's driver, William Holland, was not injured in the crash. Brewer also emerged unscathed, though there was significant damage to her car.
DPS officers at the scene believed Brewer was intoxicated. Unsteady on her feet, her breath smelling of alcohol, Brewer failed a series of field sobriety tests.
Brewer was placed in handcuffs and taken to a DPS station, where she was supposed to undergo a test to determine her blood-alcohol level. But no test was ever performed. After a discussion with a DPS lieutenant, two officers drove Brewer home.
At the scene, Brewer told officers she had "one scotch." Later, at the station, she said she had had two. At the time, she denied being drunk.
And the case never went to a judge or jury.
The DPS, after learning that Brewer was a state senator, told her that she had immunity from arrest. No charges were filed in the case. Brewer, who says she remembers the crash vividly, maintains that she was not impaired.
Brewer told different stories about what led to the crash. She told officers on the scene that a car had rear-ended her, pushing her car into Holland's, and then driven away.
But officers found no damage to the back of Brewer's car, and they noted that a layer of dust on the bumper was undisturbed.
The next day, Brewer told the Phoenix Gazette that a white truck had swerved in front of Holland, suggesting that he had suddenly braked.
"I guess I might have been following too closely or something," she said at the time.
BOTTOM LINE: Officers at the scene said Brewer was intoxicated, but she denies it. The investigation was halted before they made an official determination. The report says that from the officer's initial investigation, "it appears that she was the at-fault vehicle as she rear-ended the vehicle in front of her."
WHAT WE'RE LOOKING AT: Did Brewer receive special treatment from the DPS, and did she get immunity from prosecution?
ANALYSIS: According to his widow, Holland called the DPS in the days after the crash to ask whether Brewer would face any consequences. The person he spoke with said that Brewer had immunity from arrest.
Brewer was released because, according to the arresting officers, she was protected from arrest by her status as a lawmaker in session. Brewer did not ask for immunity, nor did she mention that she was a senator, according to reports.
"It wasn't my decision," Brewer said. "I never asked for legislative immunity."
Read more:
http://www.azcentral.com/news/election/azelections/articles/2010/10/27/20101027factcheck-brewer1027.html#ixzz13fF80Jhs
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