Source: https://www.getlegal.com/driving-while-intoxicated-dwi-without-actually-driving/
Timestamp: 2019-04-21 07:01:06+00:00

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Each state has its own Driving Under the Influence (DUI) or Driving While Intoxicated (”DWI”) statute, each of which may define the elements of the crime differently. For example, in New York, pursuant to the Vehicle and Traffic Law, one may be convicted of a DWI, a very serious criminal offense, if he “operate[s] a motor vehicle” while legally intoxicated. The question is: What does it mean to “operate a motor vehicle”? Does merely turning on the engine violate the statute? Can you be arrested for walking toward your car? What if you sit in the car with the keys in your pocket?
Thus, in New York, if the police can reasonably infer that one is about to drive intoxicated, a person may be convicted of a DWI. In the case of People v. Marriott, the defendant was observed twice by police in his car, the first time with the engine off and the second time with the engine on. The court held that since it was reasonable to infer that Marriott was about to dive, the act of sitting in the car with the engine on constituted “operating a motor vehicle” while intoxicated.
The defendent has the burden of rebutting the presumption that he was about to drive his car, and specific facts must be garnered showing a reasonable explanation why the defendant was in his car.
As the blog A Public Defender points out, a person may just be sitting in his car with the engine on so that he has a warm place in the winter to sleep off whatever he drank. In New York though, a defendant must prove the existence of such a reasonable, alternative explanation for the their presence in the car in order to avoid a DWI conviction.
New York Vehicle and Traffic Law § 1192.
State v. Cyr, 967 A.2d 32 (Conn. 2009).
People v. Membrino, 181 Misc.2d. 796, 799 (NYC Crim. Ct. 1999).
People v. O’Connor, 159 Misc. 2d 1072 (Nassau Crim. Ct. 1994).
People v. Marriott, 37 A.D.2d 868 (3d Dept. 1971).
Gideon, “Look Ma, No Hands Intent,” A Public Defender blog (March 24, 2009).

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