Greenbelt, Maryland - U.S. District Judge Peter J. Messitte sentenced Adrienne L. Williams, age 26, of Bladensburg, Maryland, today to seven months in prison followed by one year of supervised release, for driving under the influence and falsely reporting that the arresting officer tried to rape her, announced United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Rod J. Rosenstein.

According to testimony presented at her four day trial, on July 19, 2008, Williams was stopped for speeding on the Baltimore Washington Parkway by a U.S. Park Police officer. The officer smelled alcohol on her breath and when she failed to satisfactorily perform field sobriety tests, the officer arrested Williams for drunk driving. He placed her, in handcuffs, in the rear of his cruiser and drove her the 1.2 miles to Prince George’s Hospital Center for a blood sample. The drive took three minutes. Evidence showed that when they arrived at the hospital, the officer walked Williams into the emergency room to have her blood drawn. As they walked in, Williams told a passing hospital staffer that the officer had tried to rape her. The officer immediately called for a female officer to come to the scene, and left Williams in her custody. The female officer remained with Williams while a blood sample was drawn, and then took her to the police station.

Witnesses testified that Williams wrote a statement alleging that the officer who arrested her had stopped during the ride to the hospital and reached back toward her thigh. During the incident, she began kicking at him. Williams said the officer turned around in his seat and reached for her, scratching her legs and face with his nails in the process, but gave up because of her struggles and screams. Williams had scratches on her legs and face, but declined medical assistance. The scratches appeared to have been made with her own fingernails, which were ragged and there was fresh blood under one fingernail. DNA analysis of swabs taken from under the fingernails of both the officer and Williams, and from one scratch on Williams’ face showed that there was no DNA transfer between the officer and Williams. Williams’ blood-alcohol level was .17 percent when it was drawn at the hospital.

United States Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein thanked the U.S. Park Police for its investigative work and commended Assistant United States Attorney Hollis R. Weisman, who prosecuted the case.