Opinion
2021-51183
12-15-2021
The People of the State of New York, Respondent, - - v. Vladimir Gomez, Defendant-Appellant.
Unpublished Opinion
Defendant appeals from a judgment of the Criminal Court of the City of New York, Bronx County (Margaret W. Martin, J.), rendered March 26, 2019, convicting him, upon his plea of guilty, of aggravated driving while intoxicated per se, and imposing sentence.
PRESENT: Edmead, P.J., Hagler, Silvera, JJ.
PER CURIAM.
Judgment of conviction (Margaret W. Martin, J.), rendered March 26, 2019, affirmed.
Since defendant waived the right to be prosecuted by information, the facial sufficiency of the accusatory instrument must be assessed under the standard required of a misdemeanor complaint (see People v Dumay, 23 N.Y.3d 518, 522 [2014]). So viewed, the accusatory instrument was jurisdictionally valid because it described facts of an evidentiary nature establishing reasonable cause to believe that defendant was guilty of aggravated driving while intoxicated per se (see Vehicle and Traffic Law § 1192[2-a][a]), and in particular, satisfied the operation element of the offense. An eyewitness observed defendant in the driver's seat of the minivan immediately after it crashed into a parked car; the vehicle was stopped in the middle of the road, with damage to its front left bumper; a second damaged vehicle was next to defendant's vehicle; and defendant was standing next to his vehicle. These allegations support an inference that defendant was the operator of the vehicle involved in the accident (see People v Esposito, 33 N.Y.3d 1016, 1017 [2019]; People v Dunster, 146 A.D.3d 1029, 1030 [2017], lv denied 29 N.Y.3d 997 [2017]; People v Bedard, 64 Misc.3d 144 [A], 2019 NY Slip Op 51295[U] [App Term, 2nd Dept, 9th & 10th Jud Dists 2019], lv denied 34 N.Y.3d 1126 [2020]).