Actor Rip Torn was arrested January 29th in Litchfield, CT, after drunkenly breaking into a bank near his home armed with a loaded revolver. Torn apparently thought he was at home, as he took off his hat and boots and left them by the door. When officers arrived, they found that his blood-alcohol content was 0.203, about two-and-a-half times the legal limit for drivers in Connecticut. Torn’s attorney said he remembers nothing about that night.
The Associated Press reports that on Tuesday, the 79-year-old actor pleaded not guilty to trespassing, carrying a weapon while intoxicated, carrying a weapon without a permit, burglary, and criminal mischief.
His attorney, A. Thomas Waterfall, said he hopes Torn can apply for accelerated rehabilitation, in which first-time offenders can have their record cleared if they meet court-ordered requirements. Since the arrest, Torn has completed inpatient alcohol rehabilitation, participated in outpatient treatment, agreed to periodic urine analysis, gotten rid of all his weapons, and other conditions set forth by the court. Waterfall said Torn is also continuing with Alcoholics Anonymous. “He looks better and better each time you see him,” Waterfall said.
"I don’t believe that jail is anything that would be of any use to Mr. Torn (or) to the citizens of the state of Connecticut. I just don’t see that as being a reasonable resolution to this case," Waterfall said.
Court records show that Torn didn’t brandish the weapon when the officers confronted him, and he has no history of violence. His permit to carry a firearm in Connecticut had expired in October 2007.
Waterfall acknowledged that the weapons charge could complicate Torn’s application for accelerated rehabilitation, which typically is an option only for nonviolent offenders.
Last year, Torn was given probation in a Connecticut drunken-driving case and entered an alcohol-education program. Last week, a Connecticut judge dismissed the drunken-driving charge against him based on his successful completion of that program. Torn also has two previous drunken driving arrests in New York.
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