New York Criminal Lawyer Blog
Suffolk DWI 15
The plaintiff in this case is the People of the State of New York. The defendant in the case is David A. Behling. The case is being heard in the First District of the District Court of Suffolk County. Judge Salvatore A. Alamia is presiding over the case.
The defendant in this case is being charged with driving while intoxicated, aggravated driving while intoxicated (DWI)http://www.newyorkcriminallawyer24-7.com/lawyer-attorney-1732535.html, and driving while intoxicated per se. A Dunaway, Mapp, and Huntley hearing has been held in the matter to determine which evidence that has been found against the defendant will be admissible in court. The evidence in question includes statement made by the defendant. The plaintiff and the defendant were given the opportunity to submit a written closing statement to the court. The court has received the closing statement from the defendant. The people failed to submit a closing statement and have therefore waived this right.
Case Facts
Officer Connors was the sole witness in the case and testified on behalf of the plaintiff. Officer Connors is a police officer for the Suffolk County Police Department. He has been employed with the department for the past 13 years and worked as a police officer for the New York State Police Department for five years before that.
Officer Connors was working on the 20th of March in 2007. During his shift he was called to 10 East Maple Street in Central Slip, New York for a domestic incident. The victim reported that her boyfriend, David Behling had violated a protection order.
While sitting in the patrol car in front of the home and filling out paperwork in regard to the incident, Officer Connors noticed a car turn onto the block behind them. The street was very narrow and there were cars parked on both sides. The car was going very slowly. The partner of Officer Connors turned the spotlight on the driver of the vehicle. Officer Connors recognized the driver as David Behling because he had arrested him a week and a half before for a similar offense. The officers followed the defendant with the intent to arrest him for violation of the protection order.
They followed him for a couple of blocks and the defendant did not make any traffic infractions during this time. They pulled him over a few blocks away on Lowell Street. When they turned on the lights the defendant pulled over immediately, jumped out of his car and ran to the back of the car and started yelling at the officers.
Officer Connors noticed that the defendant’s speech was slurred. However, a field sobriety test was not conducted as the defendant was showing an increasingly irate demeanor. The defendant was handcuffed and taken to the precinct. During questioning the defendant stated that he understood his rights as they were being explained. The defendant admitted that he had been drinking alcoholic beverages and when asked what kind he replied a few Heinekens.
Court Decision
It is found that the responses made while in the precinct by the defendant were in no way forced and were given voluntarily. For this reason they will be submitted into evidence at trial. The defendant consented to the blood chemical test, so this evidence will not be suppressed. There is no other evidence that was found as a result of the search and seizure.
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