Appellate Court decision regarding DWI in New York State
A driver who allegedly inhaled from a can of Dust-Off before veering into oncoming traffic and killing one person cannot face driving while intoxicated and vehicular manslaughter charges under the state's drunken-driving laws, an appeals court in Brooklyn has ruled.
A divided panel of the Appellate Division, Second Department, held that the laws in question, Vehicle and Traffic Law §1192(3) and Penal Law §125.12, only apply to impairment caused by alcohol.
The majority found that the state Legislature had clearly recognized that §1192(3) did not apply to driving under the influence of drugs, which is why it passed §1192(4). "For us to hold otherwise would render 1192(4) superflous[sic], a result to be avoided in statutory construction," the majority wrote in People v. Litto, 2005-02978.
A driver who allegedly inhaled from a can of Dust-Off before veering into oncoming traffic and killing one person cannot face driving while intoxicated and vehicular manslaughter charges under the state's drunken-driving laws, an appeals court in Brooklyn has ruled.
A divided panel of the Appellate Division, Second Department, held that the laws in question, Vehicle and Traffic Law §1192(3) and Penal Law §125.12, only apply to impairment caused by alcohol.
The majority found that the state Legislature had clearly recognized that §1192(3) did not apply to driving under the influence of drugs, which is why it passed §1192(4). "For us to hold otherwise would render 1192(4) superflous[sic], a result to be avoided in statutory construction," the majority wrote in People v. Litto, 2005-02978.
posted by Jay D. Jacobson, Esq. | Wednesday, October 11, 2006
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