New York DWI Lawyer Blog

Meghan Wood of Stormville, New York has been charged with one count of first degree vehicular manslaughter, two counts of second degree vehicular manslaughter, and three counts of misdemeanor DWI in the tragic June 18th death of her best friend Lisa Marie Moray. Wood's SUV went off the ramp from the southbound Sprain Brook Parkway heading onto the eastbound lanes of I-287 at approximately 4:30 AM on June 18th, rolled over, and landed on its wheels. Both women were ejected from the vehicle. The two friends had apparently spent the night drinking at a Manhattan club called Down The Hatch. Wood admitted to police that she had 8 beers and was found to have a blood alcohol content (BAC) of .18, leading to the New York Aggravated DWI charges.

Ms. Moray was pronounced dead at the scene. Ms. Wood allegedly told police that Moray was driving. However, police investigation, including DNA evidence from the car, and a photo from the Henry Hudson toll bridge, apparently shows that Wood was driving the vehicle.

Wood posted the $20,000 bail and is due in Westchester County Court in White Plains on January 22, 2009. She faces a maximum sentence of 15 years on the first degree vehicular manslaughter count under the Penal Law of New York State.

Continue reading " Westchester County Fatal DWI Case " »

In an update to our post on November 1, 2008, former New York Assemblyman Ryan Karben pled guilty last week to a New York driving while ability impaired charge, and driving across hazard markings, in the South Nyack Justice Court. By pleading guilty to the reduced charge of Driving While Ability Impaired, instead of a driving while intoxicated charge, Mr. Karben was able to avoid a criminal record, as a New York DWI is a misdemeanor, whereas a DWAI is only a violation.

The charges stemmed from a January 30, 2008 arrest in which Mr. Karben smashed his Acura into a utility pole, failed Field Sobriety tests, and refused to take a chemical test. Interestingly, in addition to paying the fines of of approximately $500.00, having his license suspended for 90 days, being required to attend a victim impact panel and to take a drinking driver course (which will last seven weeks and cost him an additional three hundred dollars), Mr. Karben also was sentenced to two days in jail, which is virtually unheard of in a DWAI case.

Continue reading " New York DWAI Conviction For Former Assemblyman " »

If you are a driver of a commercial vehicle in New York State, driving while intoxicated in New York (DWI) and refusing to submit to a breath screening test have very serious implications, and much more so than with drivers of non commercial vehicles.

Examples include: 1. Drivers of commercial vehicles can be charged with a DWAI (Driving While Ability Impaired", the lowest level of a drunk driving charge, with a blood alcohol content (BAC) of only .04-.06, lower than the level of .05-.07 which would substantiate a DWAI charge against a non-commercial driver.

2. For a CDL operator, regardless of whether the charge is a DWI, which is a misdemeanor, or a DWAI, which is a traffic violation, the CDL license is revoked for one year. Contrast this with a first time offense by a non-commercial operator, who faces the much less severe penalties of a 90 day suspension of his or her driver's license on a DWAI, or a 6 month revocation of his or her driver's license on a DWI.

3. TLC Hack licenses are also revoked for a year on either a DWAI or DWI.

4. If a CDL operator refuses to take a breath screening test, his or her license is revoked for a full 18 months! This refusal will remain on the commercial driver's record FOREVER. And if you refuse a second time as the holder of a CDL, you are facing a lifetime revocation!

Continue reading " New York CDL and Test Refusals--What Are The Consequences? " »