Former University of Hawaii quarterback Colt Brennan was fined $300 Wednesday after pleading no contest to driving while intoxicated, a charge stemming from an arrest more than a yearago in Kailua.
During a Kaneohe District Court appearance, Brennan was ordered to pay the fine and complete 14 hours of substance abuse treatment.
Brennan was arrested June 25, 2012, on Kailua Road near the Uluoa Street intersection just before midnight on suspicion of driving under the influence and third-degree promotion of a dangerous drug, police said. The arresting police officer said that whenhe opened the driver’s side door of Brennan’s rental car, he saw a small green transparent cellophane bag containing a white powdery substance between the door and seat.
The city prosecutor’s office two months latersaid it did not pursue drug possession charges against Brennan because the state could not prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the cocaine residue found in a plastic packet in the car belonged to him.
Brennan’s driver’s license was revoked for a year after his arrest, and has since been reinstated.
Police said Brennan had a blood-alcohol concentration of 0.17 percent, more than twice the legal limit.
His attorney Michael Green said Wednesday that the former football star wanted to take responsibility.
Green, who says his client was pulled over because the officer recognized him, was prepared to fight whether there was a legal basis for the stop.
"He wasn’t interested in my using any legal process or any basis to try to get his arrest thrown out," Green said after the proceeding in District Court in Kaneohe. "He wanted to accept responsibility because he knew he was impaired. He said, ‘I know what I did was wrong.’ And I respect that."
A month before being arrested, Brennan was cut by the Canadian Football League’s Saskatchewan Roughriders.
Green said the quarterback has felt he has disappointed people with his fledgling football career. He also said that Brennan is still dealing with emotional and physical pain from a head-on crash on the Big Island in 2010.
"He’s been going through lots and lots of stress," Green said, but added that Brennan felt more at ease after the plea.
In 2007, Brennan was third in voting for the Heisman Trophy. He set 31 NCAA records during his three years at Hawaii, including 58 touchdown passes in 2006.
Brennan was drafted by the Washington Redskins in the sixth round of the NFL draft in 2008, but he never played a regular-season game in two seasons.
He is currently coaching football at Kahuku High School.
Green said Brennan still plans to give the NFL another shot.
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The Associated Press contributed to this report.
