Articles Posted in DWI Cases

After a New York DWI arrest, chances are you are not thinking about a guilty plea, and for good reason. You can contest many DWI cases, either due to insufficient evidence of intoxication or the arresting officer’s questionable actions leading up to your arrest. However, in some DWI cases, police officers followed all the rules and the evidence against you is overwhelming. In these situations, when the prosecutor approaches you with an offer, you may start to consider it, rather than risk the uncertainty of taking the case to trial.

Just because a prosecutor makes you an offer, either for a lesser offense, or an agreed-upon sentence, does not mean they have doubts about the strength of their case. Prosecutors will often cull through their cases, trying to figure out which ones are the most worthy of their limited time. If they see a case with strong evidence in their favor, they make you an offer so they don’t need to spend the time to prepare the case.

However, before you accept an offer requiring you plead guilty to a New York DWI offense, it is critical that you consider all the implications of accepting the offer. Generally, once you enter a guilty plea, you have a very limited time to ask the judge to withdraw your plea. If you miss that window, the conviction is final, and you are extremely limited in your options. For example, consider a recent DWI case decided by a state appellate court.

Recently, a state appellate court issued an opinion in a New York drunk driving case involving the death of a motorcyclist and his passenger. The case required the court to review the evidence to determine if the defendant’s conviction for criminally vehicular manslaughter was supported by the evidence. Ultimately, the court concluded that it was, and affirmed the defendant’s conviction and sentence of one to three years incarceration.

The Facts of the Case

According to the court’s opinion, the defendant was driving with three passengers in the car. As the defendant made a left turn, he hit a motorcycle traveling in the opposite direction. Both the driver of the motorcycle and the passenger died as a result of the collision.

Evidence presented at trial indicated that the defendant had THC in his system at the time of the accident. The defendant was convicted, and appealed, arguing that the prosecution failed to prove that he was “impaired” by marijuana at the time of the accident. The defendant also argued that, even if he was impaired, his impairment was not the cause of the victims’ deaths.

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No one is happy about approaching a DWI checkpoint. However, for drivers who have had a few drinks, or may have smoked marijuana earlier in the day, this can be a horrifying experience. Part of what makes DWI checkpoints alarming is the unknown surrounding what officers can ask you, what you are allowed to say, and whether they are going to ask you to take a blood or breath test. But are New York DWI checkpoints really legal?

Given the constitutional protections everyone enjoys to be free from unreasonable searches and seizures, the legality of DWI checkpoints often comes up. However, DWI checkpoints are legal, or, better said, they may be legal if they are properly carried out. A recent New York DWI case involving a defendant who was arrested at a checkpoint gave the court the opportunity to elaborate on DWI checkpoint law in New York.

According to the court’s opinion, the defendant approached a DWI checkpoint in Westchester County. As the defendant neared the checkpoint, he almost hit one of the officers on duty. The officer noticed that the defendant’s car smelled like alcohol and, when asked, the defendant explained he was coming from a party where he was drinking. The defendant agreed to take field sobriety tests, after which he was arrested for DWI and subsequently convicted.

Everyone knows that driving a car under the influence of drugs or alcohol is against the law; however, fewer people are aware that operating a boat while intoxicated carries similar criminal penalties. Under state law, it is illegal to operate a boat while under the influence of drugs or alcohol. Violations of the state’s boating while intoxicated statute provides for escalating penalties for each subsequent conviction, including fines and potentially jail time.

In a recent case, the court considered an appeal filed by a defendant who was convicted of negligently criminal homicide and boating while intoxicated charges.

The Facts of the Case

According to the court’s opinion, the case arose after a 16-year-old girl was killed after hitting her head on a bridge while riding on a boat that was owned by the defendant. The accident occurred in the early morning hours. Evidently, the defendant was aboard the boat, and allowed his 17-year-old co-defendant to drive. The night before, the defendant, the co-defendant, and the victim, were all at the defendant’s home drinking and smoking marijuana. Once the defendant got behind the wheel, he started driving erratically. Witnesses explained that the boat was traveling at high speeds, swerving across the water immediately before the accident. There was no testimony that the defendant tried to regain control of the boat, or that he told the co-defendant to stop driving in a dangerous manner.

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Recently, a state appellate court issued an opinion in a New York DWI case involving a defendant’s challenge to the evidence used to convict him at trial. Specifically, the defendant argued that the police officer violated his constitutional rights when the officer approached his car, knocked on the window, demanded the defendant exit the vehicle, and then conduct field sobriety tests.

After reviewing each of the defendant’s contentions, the appellate court affirmed the defendant’s conviction.

The Facts of the Case

According to the court’s opinion, a police officer was on routine patrol just after midnight when he encountered a running pickup truck parked on the shoulder, with its lights on. The officer pulled behind the truck and waited for five minutes before calling in a possible disabled vehicle. The officer then approached the truck, finding the defendant asleep in the driver’s seat.

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Police officers are generally able to pull over a vehicle any time they observe a vehicle commit a traffic or equipment violation. However, when an officer initiates a traffic stop, the violation they observed may not be the true reason they are effectuating the stop. In some cases, officers profile drivers, using a minor violation to conduct a traffic stop in hopes of finding something more damning. That seems to be exactly what happened in a recent New York DWI case.

According to the court’s opinion, a police officer observed a car parked in an area marked as a bus stop. The officer asked the driver to move, and the driver responded he was waiting for someone. As the officer walked back to his patrol vehicle, the man drove off. As he was driving away, the officer saw that the car’s left brake light was out. The officer pulled the driver over, and eventually arrested him for driving while intoxicated.

The defendant filed a pre-trial motion to suppress, arguing that he had two working brake lights and that the stop was unconstitutional. The defendant relied on the officer’s own testimony that, while the left brake light was out, the vehicle was equipped with a center brake light. The trial court found the defendant’s position persuasive and granted the motion. The prosecution appealed.