In a DWI case with a twist, the Manhattan DA’ s Office announced on July 1 that it was filing perjury charges against a Navy officer who was acquitted of the DWI last year by a New York County jury. Petty Officer First Class Leonel Polanco-Colon, age 32, was found not guilty by the jury after he and a friend, Luis D. Nunez, age 29, who is also charged with perjury, purportedly concocted a story that a Mr. Nunez had been Polanco-Colon’s designated driver on the night in question, and that Polanco-Colon never operated or intended to operate the motor vehicle when he was stopped by police.
Under the New York Vehicle & Traffic Law, in order for prosecutors to prove a DWI charge, they must establish that the defendant driver operated the vehicle or intended to operate the car at the time of the alleged offense. The latter situation has come up frequently in our office’s experience, when, for example, a driver pulls over the side of the road either to “sleep off” the effects of alcohol or to wait for a period of time before driving after leaving a bar or other establishment which serves alcohol. If the keys are in the ignition, and the car is running, this is indicia of “operation” and will often be enough for prosecutors to obtain a conviction of driving while intoxicated.
In the Polanco-Colon case, he and his friend Mr. Nunez testified that on August 16, 2011, they had been together at two bars in Manhattan, and that when they were stopped by police, the only reason that Polanco-Colon was in the car was to charge his phone, not to drive. Mr. Nunez described in detail their trip down the West Side Highway from the Café Tabaco y Ron to the Gaslight Lounge. The jury believed the testimony of the two men, and found Mr. Polanco-Colon not guilty of DWI. Polanco-Colon cannot be retried on the DWI charge, as that is double jeopardy. However, the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office has apparently determined that Mr. Polanco-Colon and Mr. Nunez were never together on the evening in question, and has charged Polanco-Colon with 8 counts of perjury, a D felony that has a maximum sentence of 7 years in prison. Mr. Nunez has been charged with 6 counts of first degree perjury.
One of the ironies of this case is that had Mr. Polanco-Colon been convicted of the DWI, which is a misdemeanor, he would have faced a maximum of only 1 year in jail, rather than 7 years on the first degree felony perjury charges he is now charged with. The attorney representing Mr. Polanco-Colon is also implicated in the case as having apparently discussed coordinating the testimony of Mr. Polanco-Colon and Mr. Nunez. In announcing the charges, New York County District Attorney Cyrus Vance stated: Honest testimony is the bedrock of our legal system…The cover-up, is, in this case, more serious than the crime.”
If you are charged with a DWI, other criminal offense or traffic infraction, contact the Westchester County Criminal Defense Lawyers at the Law Office of Mark A. Siesel for a free consultation to discuss the charges against you and your legal rights and options.