Articles Posted in DWI / DUI

People v Navarrette

Court Discusses the Interpretation of the Word Operation in Section 600(2)(a) of the Vehicle and Traffic Law

The defendant was charged with a class B misdemeanor, attempted leaving the scene of an incident without reporting, under section 110.00 Penal Law and section 600 (2) (a)Vehicle and Traffic Law. The complaining witness testified that the defendant parked his car, turned off his engine. He further stated that he approached the motor vehicle as the defendant opened the door to exit; he was hit by the door, which flipped his bicycle over, and he was injured on the street. The complainant was hurt and bleeding and the defendant refused to give him his driver’s license information. The defendant left the scene, leaving his parked car without reporting the incident. At the close of the prosecution’s case, the defendant requested that the charge be dismissed pursuant to section 330.30 of the CPL. The defendant argued that the People failed to prove a substantial element, that is, he was operating the motor vehicle at the time of the accident. However, the People contended that the met their burden of proof once it was proven that the criminal defendant had recently operated the motor vehicle.

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People v. Philbert

Court Discusses Whether the Defendant was given a Clear and Unequivocal Refusal Warning from a Warning Card

The defendant was charged with driving while intoxicated pursuant to section 1192 of the Vehicle and Traffic Law after the police officer observed the defendant’s slurred speech, bloodshot eyes and disheveled clothing. The defendant was read his Miranda rights and was then asked to submit to a chemical test. The defendant was read his refusal warning from a card and refused to do the test. The card stated that if the defendant refused to submit to a chemical test it may result in a revocation of the defendant’s license or operating privileges, whether or not he was convicted of the charges for which he was arrested for. He was further warned that the refusal would be introduced into evidence against him. The defendant after his refusal chose to submit to the test. However, the defendant eventually refused to submit to the chemical test after a failed attempt in taking the test according to the instructions of the officer. The defendant then sought to suppress the refusal warning.

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People v. LeBeau

Court Discusses Lesser Included Offenses of Vehicular Assault

The defendant was arrested and charged after he struck a pedestrian with his taxi after making a U-turn. The defendant admitted to the officer that the cause of the accident as a result of him drinking alcohol, taking cocaine and lack of sleep for a protracted period of time prior to the accident. The defendant was placed under arrest. The pedestrian was taken to the hospital after sustaining serious injuries. The officer also observed that the defendant had alcohol on his breath, bloodshot eyes and slurred speech during questioning. He submitted to a breathalyzer test where he registered a .08 percent blood alcohol content. The defendant was indicted for vehicular assault pursuant to section 120.03 of the Penal Law, DWI driving while impaired by drugs pursuant to section 1192.4 of the Vehicle and Traffic Law and DWAI driving while impaired by alcohol pursuant to section 1192.1 of the VTL.

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Application of Mackell

Court Discusses Whether the District Attorney was Permitted to Request that the Defendant Shave for a Line up

The District Attorney made an application to the court requesting that the respondent be permitted to shave his beard under the direction of the prison warden for the purposes of appearing in a line-up. The respondent was alleged to be one of two men to have committed robbery. At the time of the arrest the respondent was clean shaven but since he was incarcerated the defendant grew out his facial hair and refused to shave. The District Attorney asserted that the respondent would be unrecognizable with his beard and he was using it as a disguise which would result in identification being difficult if not impossible.

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People v Bain

Court Discusses Whether the Evidence was Legally Insufficient for Conviction

The defendant indicted and convicted for manslaughter in the second degree, vehicular manslaughter in the second degree, and driving while intoxicated after an accident that resulted in his wife’s death. The appealed the conviction on the ground that the evidence was legally insufficient and that the People failed to establish the chain of custody for the blood evidence recovered.

People v Bici

Court Discusses Whether the Defendant was Prejudiced with the Admission of an Abstract into Evidence

The defendant was arrested of driving while intoxicated, aggravated unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle in the third degree, and unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle. He was arrested after the police officer observed the criminal defendant weaving out of lanes and caused another driver to take evasive actions because of his driving. The defendant was pulled over by a police officer who discovered that the defendant had alcohol on his breath, slurred speech and bloodshot eyes. The defendant admitted to the police officer that he could drink and drive when the officer asked him if he was drinking. He was asked for his driver’s license and he provided the officer with a license from Connecticut. An investigation showed that the defendant had lost his driving privileges in New York a mere three days prior for driving while impaired DUI. The defendant was arrested and taken to testing facility. At the facility the defendant revealed that he would not submit to a chemical test. He was given the refusal warning and still refused to submit to the test. The defendant agreed to perform a series of coordination tests which were videotaped and both the arresting officer and the officer that administered the test were present. The tests concluded that the defendant was intoxicated. The defendant was requested that his arrest-scene statements, his refusal to submit to chemical testing, and a videotape of his physical coordination tests be suppressed as they were a product of an unlawful stop and arrest. The defendant’s motion to suppress the evidence was denied.

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People v Dzvonyk

Court Discusses Whether the Defendant’s Constitutional Right was Violated after Failure to give Refusal Warning in his Native Language.

The defendant, who was a Russian immigrant, was arrested and charged with three counts of Operating a Motor Vehicle While Under the Influence of Alcohol or Drugs, two counts of Driving While Intoxicated DWI, and one count of Aggravated DWI. The defendant was arrested after the police came to the scene of an accident which the criminal defendant was involved in. One of the officer observed that the defendant’s breath smelled of alcohol, bloodshot eyes, slurred speech and was unsteady on his feet. The defendant was arrested and taken to the precinct. At the precinct, the defendant agreed to submit to a chemical test where he registered a .233 blood alcohol content. The defendant then requested to suppress the results of the chemical test because it was involuntary as the police officer did not give the warning in his native language, thus violating his federal constitutional rights.

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People v Cabrera

Court Discusses Whether the Conduction of a Checkpoint was Unconstitutional

The defendant was arrested for driving while intoxicated DWI after being stopped at a police vehicle checkpoint. The defendant requested a pre-trial suppression of his breathalyzer results on the ground that the conduction of the checkpoint was unconstitutional.

People v. Coniglio

Court Discusses Whether a Dying Declaration was Admissible in a Murder Trial

The defendant was indicted for two counts of murder and one count of attempted murder. The defendant requested a motion to suppress statements made by the deceased and by himself, and the gun and bullets found in defendant’s automobile. The motion to supress the dying declaration made by the deceased was not a true suppression motion as it called for the evidentiary ruling on the admissibility of the statement made. A suppression of evidence at a hearing was based on whether constitutional rights were violated by improper acquisition of evidence. It did not touch upon trial relevance of evidence, or admissibility, but function is simply to bar or admit on constitutional grounds.

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The defendant was charged with Driving While Intoxicated Per Se, Vehicle and Traffic Law, Driving While Intoxicated, Turning Movements and Required Signals, and Consumption or Possession of Alcoholic Beverages in Certain Motor Vehicles. After a trial by jury, the defendant was convicted of Driving While Intoxicated Per Se, Driving While Intoxicated and Consumption or Possession of Alcoholic Beverages in Certain Motor Vehicles.

The DWAI https://dwi.1800nynylaw.com/new-york-dwai-lawyer.htmldefendant moved prior to trial to preclude the People from eliciting the result of the defendant’s breathalyzer test for blood alcohol content as a three decimal point reading. The defendant contended that the New York Department of Health Rules and Regulations regarding the chemical analyses of blood, urine, breath or saliva for alcoholic content require that the result of a breathalyzer test be reported only to the second decimal point. The People did not oppose the defendant’s application and agreed to introduce evidence of the criminal defendant’s breathalyzer test result as a two decimal point reading. Thereafter, the video recording of the defendant’s breathalyzer test was admitted into evidence and published to the jury. The recording, however, displayed the defendant’s breathalyzer test result as a three decimal point reading. The defendant objected and moved for a mistrial, claiming that the error was so prejudicial that it deprived him of a fair trial. The Court orally denied the defendant’s motion, finding that the report of the defendant’s breath test to the third decimal point was a violation of a Department of Health rule which affected only the weight of the evidence and not its admissibility.

Unlike the 15 minute observation requirement, the rule that a breathalyzer test result be reported to the second decimal point does not implicate the reliability of the test. The failure to observe the defendant to ensure, for example, that he has not placed anything in his mouth before the test obviously may impact the accuracy of the result. In contrast, the report of a breathalyzer test result beyond the second decimal point is a ministerial error which is unrelated to the procedure or accuracy of the test. As such, the fact that a breath test result is reported to the third rather than the second decimal point is irrelevant to its admissibility. If anything, the failure to comply with the Department of Health reporting rule impugns the credibility of the witness who recorded the breath test result, not the test result itself. Consequently, the admission into evidence of the video recording displaying the defendant’s blood alcohol content as a three decimal point reading is not error which the fact finder is bound to disregard.

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