Case: State v. Cyr (SC 2009) March 2009
Court: Connecticut Supreme Court
Trial Court: Manchester
Synopsis: Connecticut case law holds that a person operates a motor vehicle within the meaning of the statute which prohibits driving while intoxicated when he or she intentionally does any act or makes use of any mechanical or electrical agency which alone or in sequence with other acts will set in motion the motive power of the vehicle. In upholding the defendant’s conviction for drunk driving, the court held that in starting the engine of the vehicle remotely then getting behind the steering wheel, the defendant had undertaken the first act in a sequence of steps necessary to set in motion the motive power of a vehicle, even if the vehicle could not be driven until the key was in the ignition. The court noted a prior decision that a person was properly convicted of operating under the influence when he was found sleeping in the driver’s seat of his legally parked vehicle, with the key in the ignition and the headlights on, but without the motor running.
Case Link: http://www.jud.ct.gov/external/supapp/Cases/AROcr/CR291/291CR51.pdf
Case Citation: ____ Conn. ____ (2009)
Tags: driving under the influence · driving while intoxicated · drunk driving · dui · dwiNo Comments
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