PRESS RELEASE

For Immediate Release:

April 8, 2005

Contact: (718) 876-6300

Testimony of Richmond County District Attorney Daniel M. Donovan, Jr.
Public Forum on DWI Legislation of Senator Charles J. Fuschillo, Jr.

April 8, 2005

Thank you Senator Fuschillo for hosting this forum on an issue that is very important to my community and I believe every driver, passenger and pedestrian in this state.

I would also like to thank you for the leadership that you have shown on this issue; there has been no stronger advocate in the State Senate devoted to strengthening our drunken driving laws.

The need for strict enforcement of drunk driving can be found in countless horror stories of innocent deaths and injuries. These stories are quantified in several statistics.

In the calendar year 2002, 626 individuals were arrested for drunk driving on Staten Island, a community of less than 500,000 people. In 2003, 665 were arrested. Last year, 786 individuals were arrested for driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs. Drunk driving is rapidly on the way to becoming almost 10% of our caseload.

Clearly there is a problem and it is on the rise.

Experts in the field of drunk driving estimate that for every one person who is arrested for drunk driving, another 100 have gone undetected, free to endanger countless lives on our roadways. That means that 78,600 people drove drunk on Staten Island last year, an island of only 60 square miles and 470,000 residents.

Imagine that figure here on Long Island where nearly 3 million people reside. Consider that number and think how many drivers you passed on your way here today – It is a frightening and dangerous thought.

In 2003, as a candidate for Richmond County’s District Attorney I made the fight against drunk driving a major issue of my campaign. I was appalled to discover that many drunk driving offenders were being convicted two or three times and never spending a day in jail. As District Attorney, I have taken direct aim at cracking down on drunk driving and punishing those who flout our current laws.
I have implemented policies that reflect my belief that the role of the District Attorney is to try to prevent crimes, as well as to prosecute them. Along with officers from the NYPD’s Highway Patrol I have personally visited nearly every high school in my borough to speak to the juniors and graduating seniors who will become licensed drivers and be celebrating prom and graduation season.

My borough’s local daily newspaper, the Staten Island Advance has graciously devoted a great deal of space to educating the public on my office’s policy for drunk drivers. Additionally, we have recorded a public service announcement which currently airs on Time-Warner Cable.

I have formed an ongoing dialog with the borough’s Restaurant and Tavern Association to bring them onboard to spread the message that “if you’re going to drink, let someone else drive.”

In fact, we have adopted that message as the slogan for my office’s initiative. Last Spring, my office approached the Port Authority and asked them, at our expense, to install that message at the toll plazas of each of their three bridge crossings into Staten Island. Not only did they agree to do so – they paid for the printing and installation of these posters and then went on to install them at the toll plazas of all six Port Authority Crossings, all in time for Memorial Day weekend.

Public education only goes so far. As prosecutors, we must work within the existing law to punish those who endanger lives by drinking and driving.

When I took office over a year ago, only one in six repeat drunk drivers went to jail. Now, nearly one in three repeat drunk drivers is sentenced to jail time on Staten Island.

As part of my office’s crackdown on drunk driving we have sought jail time for every repeat drunk driver and in every felony eligible case. In twelve indicted felony DWI cases disposed of last year, my office asked for jail time in all twelve and received a sentence of jail in all but one.

However, there are still aspects of existing law that need to be refined as Senator Fuschillo has demonstrated in proposing four bills amending existing law governing driving under the influence of drugs and/or alcohol.

As a prosecutor who is in the forefront in combating drunk driving in our state, I fully support the legislation that has been proposed by Senator Fuschillo.

As I have stated earlier, my office has asked for jail time for repeat offenders. I support your efforts to eliminate the alternative of community service for certain repeat alcohol related offenders.

Anyone who drives drunk on our roads is a menace to law abiding citizens. However, those who drive at elevated percentage of blood alcohol content, above .15 or .20 is an even greater risk. Their punishment should reflect that greater danger.

The Senator’s proposal to establish the offense of driving while ability impaired by the combined influence of alcohol or drugs is common sense legislation based on the reality that many individuals who engage in drunken driving often do so while under the influence of illegal and or legal drugs.

Additionally, the Senator’s proposal to mandate testing of breath, blood, or urine following a collision involving injury or death will also assist prosecutors in pursuing penalties against those flout our laws by driving under the influence. This legislation would provide law enforcement with the earliest possible indication of whether a horrible collision was due to a violation of our drunk driving laws and will prevent individuals from escaping prosecution by refusing a chemical test.

I would like to conclude my remarks by briefly discussing a package of legislation that has repeatedly passed the State Senate but has not been allowed for a vote by the Assembly leadership – Governor Pataki’s ‘Deadly Driver” legislation.

Probably the most difficult part of my job as the District Attorney of Staten Island has been to sit with parents after the death or serious injury of their child at the hands of a driver who should not have been behind the wheel of a car. Two such families are those of Brianna Gioia and Michael Vasquez Moore. Fourteen year old Brianna was a passenger of a car driven by an unlicensed driver; Michael, 11, was a victim of a driver whose license had been suspended.

Those who we deem “deadly drivers” are people who drive while intoxicated, those with a suspended or revoked license, or drivers who have no license at all. No one in this category of lawbreakers ought to be on our roads yet I see volumes of such cases in the daily arrests I review each morning and it is certain that there are hundreds of these violators on our roads at any time.

As it stands now, New York law does not protect us from these deadly drivers. Under current law, when their actions result in the death or serious injury of an innocent person, unless there is proof of further negligence or recklessness, the most serious charge a drunk driver can face is a misdemeanor, and, in the case of a person driving with a suspended, revoked, or no license, very often the most these drivers will be charged with is a traffic infraction.

When someone fires a weapon and sends a bullet into motion they are responsible for all of the consequences of their actions, even if they did not intend to injure anyone. If someone is struck with that bullet, that shooter will be charged with the assault or death of the unintended victim. No other negligence or reckless behavior need be proven. So too should be the law when someone drives when the law prohibits them from doing so.

Sending a two thousand pound car into motion can be a deadly instrumentality when it is operated by someone who should not be driving. No further proof of criminality should be required. If such a driver takes the wheel, he or she should be held responsible for all of the consequences of their actions, including the death or injury of another person.

It is time for the Assembly leadership to allow this legislation to have a vote on the floor. It is time to end the free ride for New York’s Deadly Drivers.

I again thank you, Senator Fuschillo, for allowing me the time and forum to share my views on this most important issue.