The Appellate Division
Third Department has unanimously affirmed the May 16, 2016 conviction of Michael
Mink upon a jury verdict convicting him of the crimes of driving while intoxicated
and aggravated unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle and upon a plea of guilty
convicting him of the crime of circumvention of ignition interlock device.
Defendant’s convictions stems from an
incident which occurred in February 2014, when the defendant left a family
house party after an evening of drinking. Police were alerted to this fact
following a 911 call from an individual at that party. The gray Chrysler defendant
was driving was eventually spotted by a Sheriff’s Deputy and when defendant pulled
into a gas station and stopped, he was observed by police exiting the driver’s
side of the vehicle. Defendant exhibited all of the indicia of intoxication and
after failing the field sobriety tests which were administered to him, he was
arrested.
Defendant was convicted after a jury
trial of DWI and Aggravated Unlicensed Operation in the first degree, after
which he pled guilty to circumvention of ignition interlock. He was sentenced by
Supreme Court Justice Mott to one year in jail for the DWI and concurrent jail
terms of equal or lesser length on the remaining convictions.
On appeal, defendant challenged the sufficiency
and weight of the evidence supporting his conviction, but the reviewing court rejected
his assertions.
On appeal, defendant is represented by
Teresa C. Mulliken of Harpersfield, New York. Assistant District Attorney Joan
Gudesblatt Lamb handled the appeal for the District Attorney’s Office.
