New York DWI Lawyer Blog

Former NBA and Michigan University basketball star Jalen Rose has been charged with driving while intoxicated in Detroit, Michigan. The charges stem from an incident on March 11, 2011 when Rose's car slid off a roadway and crashed in Detroit. When police officers investigated the one car accident, Rose was asked, but refused, to take a breathalyzer. However, Rose agreed to take a blood test believing that his blood alcohol content (BAC) would not show that he was intoxicated.

Apparently, the results of the blood test have indicated that Rose was driving with a BAC above the legal limit. Similar to New York State, the legal limit for intoxication in Michigan is 0.08 percent or above. In New York, if a motorist is found to be operating a vehicle with a blood alcohol concentration of 0.18 or above, he or she is charged with an aggravated DWI under section 1192 (2)(a) of the Vehicle & Traffic Law of the State of New York.

Rose is due back in Court on April 20, 2011. If he were to be convicted of a DWI in New York, he would be facing a 6 month revocation of his driver's license, fines and surcharge of approximately $900, the requirement to install an ignition interlock device in his vehicle for one year, be screened for substance abuse, the necessity to attend a MADD Vitim Impact Panel, and a 7 week course at the conclusion of his case known as the DDP or Drinking Driver Program.

Continue reading " Former NBA Player Rose Charged In Michigan DWI " »

George Kiaha, a 25 year old Garrison resident, was sentenced this week to the maximum 2 1/3 to 7 year jail sentence for the September 4, 2009 fatal DWI that resulted in the death of 55 year old Ralph Wood and injured five members of his family. The D.A.'s office claimed that Mr. Kiaha had a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) of 0.11 when the vehicle he was operating in Cortlandt Manor crossed a double yellow line and struck head-on the car in which Mr. Wood was a passenger. All the occupants of both vehicles were hospitalized. Mr. Wood apparently suffered a ruptured spleen in the crash, went into cardiac arrest and died.

Mr. Kiaha was convicted by a Westchester County jury of all counts against him, including vehicular assault (the top count), criminally negligent homicide, reckless driving and five misdemeanor counts of assault for each of the occupants of the other vehicle in the crash. He was sentenced by Judge Barbara Zambelli to the severest sentence possible for vehicular manslaughter. Mr. Kiaha's defense attorney argued to the jury that poor police work and mishandled evidence created doubt as to the blood alcohol findings taken at the hospital, but the jury did not accept that contention.

The attorney had asked the Court to sentence Mr. Kiaha to what is known as shock probation, which involves some jail time and then five years probation, but Judge Zambelli rejected that request. It is not yet clear if Mr. Kiaha will appeal his conviction. Certainly, the severity of Mr. Kiaha's sentence was affected in part by the obvious tragic circumstances of the accident, and in addition, the fatal accident on the Taconic in 2009 and the effects of Leandra's Law, which became fully effective this past August.

Continue reading " Westchester County Fatal DWI--Defendant Gets Maximum Sentence " »