Intoxication
New York Essex County Persistent Felony Offender Intoxication Drunk Discretion Conviction Lawyers Attorney Author: Atchuthan Sriskandarajah The People of the State of New York, Plaintiff, v. Louis F. Bowers, Defendant. COUNTY COURT OF NEW YORK, ESSEX COUNTY February 27, 1992, Decided ...
New York Essex County Persistent Felony Offender Intoxication Drunk Discretion Conviction Lawyers Attorney
Author: Atchuthan Sriskandarajah
The People of the State of New York, Plaintiff, v. Louis F. Bowers, Defendant.
COUNTY COURT OF NEW YORK, ESSEX COUNTY
February 27, 1992, Decided
Facts:
The defendant was convicted of felony driving while intoxicated (DWI) and he moved to restrict from application to his conviction, the provisions of N.Y. Penal Law § 70.10 and N.Y. Crim. Proc. Law § 400.20, which authorize the felony offender process. Defendant argued that use of the persistent felony offender statute was particularly inappropriate where his previous felony convictions consisted of prior DWI convictions. He moved to restrict from application to his conviction for felony driving while intoxicated, the provisions of N.Y. Penal Law § 70.10 and N.Y. Crim. Proc. Law § 400.20, which authorize the felony offender process.
Issue:
Whether the court was given discretion to apply the persistent felony offender statute to persons convicted of felony DWI?
Whether the defendant can be sentenced as a persistent felony offender upon his present conviction of felony driving while intoxicated?
Discussion:
This court held that while there is no discretion contemplated in the sentencing of the second felony offender, the sentencing of a potential persistent felony offender allows for almost unfettered discretion on the part of the sentencing Judge. CPL 400.21 requires that the process of determining second felony status, and sentencing once such determination is made, "must" be followed. CPL 400.20 proceeds on a very different basis: authorizing, but not requiring, the persistent felony offender process, and permitting termination of the process at any time by the court "in its discretion". It seems clear that the statutory framework surrounding the area of enhanced sentencing was intended to provide for narrow scope (e.g., the exclusion of non-Penal Law felonies) with no discretion in the second felony offender context, but very broad scope, tempered by near-total discretion, to limit when necessary the application of the persistent felony offender statute. This court declined to read the language limiting application of N.Y. Penal Law § 70.06 into N.Y. Penal Law § 70.10. Even though enhanced DWI sentencing was prohibited in the second felony offender context, this court held that it clearly was given discretion to apply the persistent felony offender statute to persons convicted of felony DWI. The court ordered a hearing to determine whether enhanced sentencing could and should be applied in defendant's case. Defendant's motion was denied.
This court held that while it is clear that, if the prerequisites of CPL 400.20 are satisfied, the persistent felony offender statute is applicable here, it is equally clear that enhanced sentencing must be approached with the greatest caution insofar as it is applied to the DWI defendant. A hearing under CPL 400.20 will be held to determine whether enhanced sentencing can, and ought to, be applied. This court enters upon that hearing with full appreciation of its implications, with respect both to this individual defendant and to the precedential implications of the use of the persistent felony offender statute in the area of Vehicle and Traffic Law felonies. However, in the event that the requisites of CPL 400.20 and section 70.10 of the Penal Law are in fact satisfied after hearing, and in the event this defendant's history and criminal background are proven to warrant it, this court is fully prepared to sentence him as a persistent felony offender. Defendant's motion is denied; a hearing under CPL 400.20 (2) shall be held herein.
Conclusion:
This court hence denied the defendant's motion to restrict from application to his conviction, the felony offender statute.
Disclaimer:
These summaries are provided by the SRIS Law Group. They represent the firm's unofficial views of the Justices' opinions. The original opinions should be consulted for their authoritative content
Means the person was high on Morphine or some other opiate and they fell and hit their head, resulting in their death.
What are some positive aspects to having intoxication as a defence?
Currently intoxication is a valid defence in Canadian courts. Though many people argue that one should not be able to plead drunkenness as an excuse or mitigating factor for criminal actions taken in the face of intoxication, what are some pros to having this defence?
You raise a good point. If a person is sober, we don’t punish sobriety, but rather the crime that the sober person committed. Why, then, shouldn’t we punish the crime committed by the drunk person rather than the state of being drunk?
Public intoxication seems to me to be more of a public decency issue – in other words, there’s no right being infringed upon by coming across a drunk in public. It’s simply undesirable to encounter drunks on the streets. If anything, the only rights being violated are the drunk’s right to consume a legal beverage wherever he pleases.
What does acute opiate intoxication mean in regards to death?
I am confused about a cause of death. It is listed as an accidental head injury caused by acute opiate intoxication. What does that mean?
It depends why you are drinking so much water.
Because your food is salt, very sweet, carbohydrate heavy?
All those make us thirsty.
If you are drinking because you are genuinely thirsty it’s probably ok.
If you are drinking because you think you should or you will be ill it’s time to talk to a doctor.
“Trust your thirst instinct to make sure you get enough fluids and, of equal importance, void frequently” (Zelman, 2009). Interviewer Kathleen Zelman, continues Perlow’s observations and writes “If you follow your thirst, you won’t go wrong…pre-modern man never ran around sipping on a water bottle. A dry mouth indicated it was time to run to the stream for a drink.”
Is it possible to suffer from water intoxication drinking about 3 to 4 liters after a heavy meal?
Because that’s how much I feel the need to drink, or I’d get all cranky and lazy. Foods make me thirsty! It’s odd because until 2 months ago, I used to avoid drinking water completely, and rely on sodas and juices.
I know water intoxication occurs when the water and sodium balance is disturbed, but the heavy and salty meal should take care of that, right?
Additional details: I’m not diabetic
I am talking about over the course of a couple of hours.
How does public intoxication infringe apon ones right not to get hurt?
Public intoxication is illegal because one could go crazy and hurt someone. Sober people hurt other people too. Ok so how does public intoxication infringe upon ones right to not get hurt when being sober is the same dilemma?
What’s the difference between acute alcohol intoxication and alcohol poisoning?
At a party last night I drank too much too fast and past out cold. My friends found me unconscious and with shallow breathing and called 911. They didn’t pump my stomach at the hospital, just gave me IV fluids, and potassium. In my discharge paperwork it said I suffered acute alcohol intoxication, is that the same as alcohol poisoning?
Typically when you hear the term acute put in front of a medical issue, it just means sudden onset. So, acute alcohol intoxication would just mean that a patient became intoxicated in a very short time period (shorter than typical). You have have acute alcohol intoxication and not have alcohol poisoning. People get intoxicated on an acute basis every day (think of college and drinking games, and there you go).
It is when this acute alcohol intoxication exceeds the specific patent’s specific threshold, when you run into alcohol poisoning, where it will be necessary to obtain medical care. Depending on the patent’s condition (how bad the case of poisoning is) will depict what treatment they require.
Most likely you did not have alcohol poisoning, as if you did, they would have listed that as your diagnosis. Instead they listed acute alcohol intoxication which like I said is not the same thing. Now had you not gotten to the hospital in time, then it is possible that you could have ended up with alcohol poisoning, but because they were able to rehydrate you in time, they were able to stop the progression of the alcohol’s toxicity on your body.
It is good that you are ok, but in the future just try to be a little more careful. Nothing wrong with having fun, just pace yourself and know what your limits are, and always have someone around who is sober, just in case such an event happens.
EDIT: Just as an FYI these two are not interchangable, so I have to respectfully disagree, as the two have different chart codes and different treatment protocols. Please see below for general description:
What is the treatment for alcohol intoxication?
Replacing fluids that are lost as a result of the increased urination associated with drinking is often used to treat alcohol intoxication. Doctors frequently use fluids that contain sugars for that purpose.
What is alcohol poisoning?
Alcohol poisoning is the potentially fatal result of drinking excessive amounts of alcohol in a short period of time. It is caused by alcohol slowing down the body’s functions (for example, breathing, heart rate, and gag reflex), thereby potentially leading to choking, coma, stopped breathing, stopped heart, and death. Treatment involves getting the person to the hospital immediately so he or she can be closely watched by medical professionals, given oxygen and fluids, and so that other measures can be taken in order to prevent choking, as well as stopped breathing or heart beat.
Once you have consumed even a few alcoholic drinks you are “intoxicated” as you have consumed a toxic compound. So if these two terms were truly interchangable then you would have to then say that someone suffering from accute alcohol intoxication (maybe they drank 2 beers in an hour) would also have alcohol poisoning, and of course this is not going to be the case at all.
Acute alcohol intoxication (symptom description): Acute alcohol intoxication is listed as a type of or related-symptom for symptom Alcohol abuse.
Acute alcohol intoxication (symptom description): For a medical symptom description of ‘Acute alcohol intoxication’, the following symptom information may be relevant to the symptoms: Alcohol abuse (type of symptom). However, note that other causes of the symptom ‘Acute alcohol intoxication’ may be possible.
Alcohol poisoning: A condition in which a toxic amount of alcohol (ethanol, ethyl alcohol) has been drunk, usually in a short period of time. The toxicity is related to the blood level of the alcohol.
The individual may become extremely disoriented, unresponsive or unconscious, with shallow breathing.
Because alcohol poisoning can be fatal, emergency treatment is urgently needed.
Treatment for alcohol piosoning:
Once medical personnel have responded to the call for assistance, the drinker will almost always be taken to a hospital where the treatment for alcohol poisoning consists of pumping the person’s stomach. Pumping the stomach, also known as or gastric lavage or gastric irrigation, involves inserting a tube in the person’s nose or mouth and passing it down into the stomach. After the tube has reached the stomach, the administration and removal of small amounts of warm water or saline is repeated until the returning fluid does not contain any more gastric contents.
Basically it is a fine line between the two. They have two codes, and two protocols for treatment and therefore are technically different. You can be admitted with acute alcohol intoxication and usually just get some IV fluids and have a little counsel session from the hospital counseler. Whereas with the acute acohol poisoning you are looking at more serious treamtment protocols, because the patient is in more serious of a condition. This is all based on your serum or blood tox screen levels of ethyl aclohol and metabolites present, your age, weight, medical condition and history, as well as metabolic rate and other patient specific criteria.
The line is hazy, and one can present with acute alcohol intoxication and it can progress into alchol posioning rapidly if the patient has not gotten medical treatment in time.
Peer-Reviewed Journal Article for more information:
http://www.gannett.cornell.edu/downloads/AOD/SafetyFirstPdf.pdf
The only pro is that rehabilitation is more likely to be offered in addition to a sentence if found guilty,