Award-winning Australian actor Simon Baker has avoided a drink-driving conviction after a court told him officers were unable to obtain a blood alcohol reading due to the global Microsoft service outage.
Mr Baker, who starred in The Mentalist and was nominated for multiple awards for his role in the Netflix drama Boy Swallows Universe, remained silent as he left the courtroom accompanied by his lawyer, Peggy Dwyer.
The award-winning actor pleaded guilty to a single count of operating a vehicle under the influence of alcohol during an earlier court appearance.
Another charge of attempted drunk driving was dropped on the same date.
Baker, 55, faces a maximum sentence of 30 penalty units or 18 months in jail, or both, Magistrate Judge Kathy Crittenden said.
But the Hollywood star left court on a nine-month probation order for good behaviour.
No convictions were recorded.
An unknown man followed Baker and Ms. Dwyer out of the courtroom holding a sign that read “Uber for Baker.”
Award-winning Australian actor Simon Baker has avoided a drink-driving conviction after a court told officers they were unable to obtain a blood alcohol reading due to Microsoft’s worldwide service outage.
Mullumbimby Local Court was told that police saw Baker driving on 20 July 2024 in Bangalow.
Police saw him crossing the center line of the road and apparently speeding up and slowing down before stopping him.
Reading from the agreed statement of facts, Ms Crittenden said Baker had “bloodshot eyes, slurred speech” and was “unsteady on his feet”.
Mr Baker, who starred in The Mentalist and was nominated for multiple awards for his role in the Netflix drama Boy Swallows Universe, remained silent as he left the courtroom accompanied by his lawyer, Peggy Dwyer.
The court was told a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) test returned a positive result.
But police were unable to obtain additional breath analysis because of the global outage of Microsoft systems caused by a faulty CrowdStrike update.
The officers instead had to proceed with an “old-fashioned sobriety test.”
Ms Crittenden said Baker was “candid” with police about drinking four glasses of red wine while eating dinner.
“He was very apologetic and said he shouldn’t have been driving,” she said.
“He was polite, cooperative and extremely remorseful for his actions.”
A material offer was made in support of Baker, including his completion of a traffic offender rehabilitation program in the following months.
Character references spoke of Baker’s “significant” contributions to the community, including after the “catastrophic” 2022 floods in the northern rivers region of New South Wales.
“On the basis of the material, the court has no major difficulty in concluding that Mr Baker is remorseful and unlikely to reoffend,” Crittenden said.
Ms Crittenden said Baker was “frank” with police about drinking four glasses of red wine while eating dinner.
He said drunk driving offences are taken seriously because of the risk they pose to community safety.
Baker was ordered to maintain good behavior for nine months under the probation order.
Baker received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for his portrayal of Patrick Jane in The Mentalist from 2008 to 2015.
He was recently nominated for a TV Week Logie and 11 other awards for his role in Boy Swallows Universe, an adaptation of Trent Dalton’s acclaimed novel.
