People v. Carota

93 A.D.3d 1072, 941 N.Y.S.2d 302
Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of the State of New York·Decided March 29, 2012·Published·Cited by 22 cases

Opinion

Stein, J.

Appeal from a judgment of the County Court of Warren County (Hall Jr., J), rendered September 15, 2010, upon a verdict convicting defendant of the crime of driving while intoxicated.

In January 2009, defendant was stopped in the early morning hours by Glens Falls Police Officer Daniel Habshi, after he observed defendant fail to stop at a stop sign, make a right-hand turn without first signaling and then proceed to drive with his vehicle straddling two lanes at once. When Habshi ap[1073] proached the vehicle, he smelled a strong odor of alcohol, asked defendant to step out of his vehicle, and then administered five field sobriety tests to defendant, all of which indicated that defendant was intoxicated. Defendant refused to submit to an Alko-sensor test and Habshi ultimately placed him under arrest for driving while intoxicated (hereinafter DWI). Defendant was transported to the police station, where Habshi read him his Miranda rights and a DWI warning. Defendant thereafter refused to submit to a chemical/breathalyzer test, insisting that he wanted a blood test instead. Defendant was subsequently indicted on a felony DWI charge (see Vehicle and Traffic Law § 1192 [3]).* A Dunaway ¡Huntley hearing was held and, after a jury trial, defendant was found guilty as charged. County Court sentenced defendant to a prison term of IVs to 4 years. Defendant now appeals. Because we agree with defendant’s contention that County Court erred in denying his request to submit to the jury the lesser included offense of driving while ability impaired (hereinafter DWAI) pursuant to Vehicle and Traffic Law § 1192 (1), we reverse.

Contrary to defendant’s contentions, we are satisfied that his conviction was supported by legally sufficient evidence and was in accord with the weight of the evidence. Vehicle and Traffic Law § 1192 (3) provides that “[n]o person shall operate a motor vehicle while in an intoxicated condition.” In this regard, a driver is intoxicated when he or she has “voluntarily consumed alcohol to the extent that he [or she] is incapable of employing the physical and mental abilities which he [or she] is expected to possess in order to operate a vehicle as a reasonable and prudent driver” (People v Cruz, 48 NY2d 419, 428 [1979], appeal dismissed 446 US 901 [1980]; see People v Pierce, 268 AD2d 883 [2000], lv denied 94 NY2d 924 [2000]; People v Hagmann, 175 AD2d 502, 504 [1991]).

Here, defendant’s theory of the case was that he was impaired because he used marihuana, and he asserts that the evidence presented at trial was insufficient to support the conclusion that he was intoxicated by alcohol. We disagree. The People’s evidence included Habshi’s testimony that defendant failed to stop at a stop sign, made a right turn without first indicating and then continued to drive with his car in two lanes at once— all of which are violations of the Vehicle and Traffic Law (see Vehicle and Traffic Law § 1128 [a]; § 1163 [b]; § 1172 [a]). Habshi further testified that defendant smelled strongly of alcohol and marihuana, his speech was slurred, he had glassy, [1074] bloodshot eyes, and he struggled to maintain his balance upon exiting his vehicle. Habshi also testified that defendant was unable to successfully complete any of the five field sobriety tests that Habshi administered — and the transcript of the tape recording made by defendant at the time supports this testimony. In addition, defendant refused several times to take a breathalyzer. Moreover, after being advised of his Miranda rights, defendant admitted that he had been drinking prior to the traffic stop, although he claimed he had consumed only two beers. Defendant’s former girlfriend, Marie Crandall, also testified that he smelled of alcohol when she saw him at the jail several hours after he was arrested. In a recorded telephone call with Crandall, defendant stated, among other things, that he had been “partying” since midnight prior to his arrest.

Viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to the People, we conclude that “there is [a] valid line of reasoning and permissible inferences which could lead a rational person to the conclusion reached by the jury on the basis of the evidence at trial” that defendant was intoxicated (People u Bleakley, 69 NY2d 490, 495 [1987]; see People v Johnson, 70 AD3d 1188, 1189 [2010]). Combined with defendant’s concession that he was operating a motor vehicle, we find the evidence was legally sufficient to support defendant’s conviction of DWI under Vehicle and Traffic Law § 1192 (3) (see People v Johnson, 70 AD3d at 1189; People v Owens, 45 AD3d 1058, 1059 [2007]; People v Hamm, 29 AD3d 1079, 1080 [2006]).

Despite certain inconsistencies between Habshi’s trial testimony and other evidence — including, among other things, Habshi’s grand jury testimony and certain written reports he completed — and the absence of evidence of defendant’s blood alcohol content, defendant’s conviction was not against the weight of the evidence. Any inconsistencies in relation to Habshi’s testimony were minor and “ ‘were thoroughly aired during cross-examination’ ” (People v Hamm, 29 AD3d at 1080, quoting People v Howard, 299 AD2d 647, 648 [2002], lv denied 99 NY2d 629 [2003]; see People v Silvestri, 34 AD3d 986, 987 [2006]). Defense counsel also cross-examined Habshi regarding, among other things, the manner in which he administered the field sobriety tests, which defendant alleged was improper in various respects. In addition, the jury heard a tape recording made by defendant of the traffic stop and defendant’s testimony that his intoxicated appearance and behavior were caused by his use of marihuana.

The jury had a full opportunity to evaluate the credibility of the witnesses (see People v Hamm, 29 AD3d at 1081), and [1075] “clearly did not accept or credit defendant’s explanation for his intoxicated appearance” (People v Johnson, 70 AD3d at 1190). Furthermore, inasmuch as the lack of evidence of defendant’s blood alcohol content was the result of his refusal to submit to a breathalyzer test, the jury was entitled to draw a negative inference against him (see Vehicle and Traffic Law § 1194 [2] [f]; People v D’Angelo, 244 AD2d 788, 789 [1997], lv denied 91 NY2d 890 [1998]). Viewing the evidence in a neutral light, according deference to the jury’s credibility determinations, and “weighting] the relative probative force of conflicting testimony and the relative strength of conflicting inferences that may be drawn from the testimony” (People v Spencer, 89 AD3d 1156, 1157 [2011] [internal quotation marks and citations omitted]; accord People v Johnson, 70 AD3d at 1189-1190), we find that defendant’s conviction was not against the weight of the evidence.

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People v. Carota, 93 A.D.3d 1072, 941 N.Y.S.2d 302 (N.Y. Ct. App. 2012).

93 A.D.3d 1072 (People v. Carota) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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