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.