DWI can be asleep with engine running
State v. Speranza, Appellate Division, Per Curiam. Defendant appealed from his DWI conviction. Defendant's conviction stemmed from an incident in which police responded to a report of an unconscious male in a vehicle at an intersection. The responding officer found defendant asleep in the driver's seat of his car, which was sitting at an intersection with the engine running.
The officer was unable to rouse defendant, forcing him and other responding officers to drag defendant out of his vehicle. Defendant eventually came to, telling the officers that he had come from a friend's house but did not know where he was. The parties stipulated that defendant was intoxicated when police found him. The municipal court accordingly convicted defendant, finding that he was "operating" his car within the meaning of the DWI statute.
Defendant appealed to the trial court, which conducted a trial de novo in which it rejected defendant's argument that he did not "operate" his car. The trial court held that defendant intended to operate his vehicle because he was sitting in the driver's seat with the engine running.
On appeal, the court affirmed defendant's conviction, ruling that a vehicle did not need to be seen in motion to trigger liability under the DWI statute. Instead, it was enough that a defendant had the possibility to move their vehicle by sitting in the car with the engine running. Daily Briefing - 09-23-21NOT APPROVED FOR PUBLICATION
