Whitley Co. attorney representing a client in ongoing trial arrested on DUI charges

WHITLEY COUNTY, Ky. (WKYT) - A Whitley County attorney currently representing a client in a trial was arrested on DUI charges on Wednesday.

Wednesday morning, attorney James Wren was supposed to be at the Whitley County courthouse to defend his client, but instead, he ended up getting arrested himself.

Instead of continuing Wren’s client’s trial, the judge declared a mistrial.

According to court records obtained by WKYT, shortly after 8:30 Wednesday morning, someone called 911 to report a car driving “all over the road” and “up on the sidewalk.”

“I stopped him right in front of his law office on Fourth and Sycamore,” said Officer Staci Walker with Williamsburg PD.

Officer Walker was the first responding officer.

“He said that he was supposed to be in court,” said Officer Walker. “He was nervous about a big case that the Williamsburg Police Department was gonna testify against him, and then he fell asleep.”

Then, Officer Walker called the department’s drug recognition officer to the scene. That officer, assistant chief Brandon White, conducted field sobriety tests.

“When he did the one-legged stance, he fell over. I actually thought I was gonna have to catch him,” said Officer Walker.

Wren was arrested and brought to Corbin Hospital for testing, where he submitted to a chemical test of his blood. Those results are still pending, according to the Williamsburg Police Department.

Wren told the News Journal, “he believes he was targeted and that his arrest was ‘politically motivated.”

“There is absolutely nothing that our department or anyone in this department has that is politically motivated towards this arrest,” said Williamsburg PD Public Affairs Officer Steven Hill.

It is unclear if Wren will continue to represent his client.

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