Guy in tractor versus State Police - Tractor guy wins

[JDemaris]

A guy near me was sleeping in his tractor on his own property. State Police entered his property and arrested him as follows:

"The Davenport NY town supervisor, who was taking a nap in his tractor Sunday night, was arrested on a felony drunken driving charge, state police at Oneonta said. Dennis J. Valente, 58, of Davenport Center, was charged at 7:05 p.m. with operating a motor vehicle with a blood-alcohol content of .08 of 1 percent, a felony count because of prior history, troopers said. He was arraigned in Davenport Town Court and released, pending re-appearance in court at 2 p.m. June 25."

The case got thrown out of court. Good for him!

Here's the follow-up story in our local disgustingly abundant newspaper.

"All charges filed against Davenport Supervisor Dennis Valente after an alleged June 9 drunken-driving incident have been dismissed by Meredith Town Justice Gay Merrill for lack of probable cause, according to a copy of the decision provided to The Daily Star. Valente was arrested for driving while intoxicated - first offense.
State troopers reported at the time he had previously been convicted of driving while intoxicated, but Valente’s attorney, Joseph Ermeti, said that was completely false in a letter accompanying the decision. When Valente chose to take a nap in an enclosed tractor cab that was not readily apparent, “one reasonably can conclude the defendant had an expectation of not being disturbed/privacy to take a nap.”

 

[Cas]

The New York State troopers never cease to amaze me. Four years ago I stopped at home with the manure spreader to eat lunch. All tires were off the pavement. A few minutes later a trooper knocked on the door. She told me she was going to write me a ticket for no plates or registration on the cab window.
I told to go ahead and I was going to impound her car(Park a tractor in front and behind it). Several phone calls by both of us, the issue was resolved. She left and i finished my lunch.

 

[ShadetreeRet]

It's about time somebody fought the law and the law DIDN'T win!
When I was in my early twenties, I did a burnout across a service station parking lot. A cop saw/heard me and threatened to give me a ticket for careless and reckless driving. He chewed and chewed and when he saw that none of us were overly impressed he graciously let me off with a verbal warning. Heck, we all knew that the service station lot was private property, and he had no authority there!

 

[LAA]

I thought the State Police used to be more choicey about the quality of their personnel but this case sounds like a cop with a personal grudge against the guy who was asleep or whose supervisor had a grudge against the guy. I am surprised there was a Judge with the moxy to buck the drunk driving charge, MADD will be raising money to have him defeated because he failed to uphold the nanny states golden rule, any white man accused of drunk driving or any kind of harrassment is automatically guilty.

 

[RodinNS]

So... if it wasn't readily apparent that he was there sleeping... how did the constabulary know to look for him? There must be a bit more to the story...

Just the same, I have a problem with the cops charging someone with DUI when they're sleeping in a vehicle. At least they're sleeping it off rather than driving. The message they send when they arrest a sitting duck is that you're better off not sitting there waiting for them to get you...

Rod

 

[OH - 961]

It sure is a stretch for the cops to come on private property and arrest the guy. Seems like grounds for him to file trespassing charges.

Myron

 

[omahagreg]

Fella in Omaha was charged with DUI for sleeping in his car in the bar parking lot. Keys were NOT in the ignition! Too recent to know how it turns out!

 

[omahagreg]

Fella in Omaha was charged with DUI for sleeping in his car in the bar parking lot. Keys were NOT in the ignition! Too recent to know how it turns out!

 

[Bill(Wis)]

Property like that, in fact your own driveway, is generally considered "quasi-public" property. Not the same as your back 40. Or the inside of your house.

 

[Anonymous-0]

If he was seen operating it on a public road then yes they have grounds for charges. If he was on private land then there isn't or shouldn't be anything they can do about it.

 

[Mark - IN.]

I'm missing something here.

The guy was sleeping it off in the cab of HIS tractor on HIS property. Why then didn't his attorney say or bring that up? Here is what his attorney said from above, "When Valente chose to take a nap in an enclosed tractor cab that was not readily apparent, one reasonably can conclude the defendant had an expectation of not being disturbed/privacy to take a nap.” Nowhere does it say anything about his attorney asking, "What, DUI for sleeping in HIS privately owned tractor on HIS privately owned property? What, are you joking?".

I must have missed something.

Mark

 

[Anonymous-0]

Keys don't have to be in the ignition. If they
find the keys on him or anywhere in the car he can
be charged. If they don't find the keys he can
fight it. It's a weird kind of law and I think
should be dealt with on an individual basis. Some,
not many, but some people are smart enough not to
drive and sleep it off in their car instead. I
think the law interprets that an intoxicated
person doesn't have the common sense to not even
consider driving. In my opinion bars should have
have some responsibility in the safety of their
patrons and the general public. I have heard of
bars that take your keys and only return them if
you are either a designated driver or only had 1
drink. If someone has been there for 3 hours and
had half a dozen or more drinks, they shouldn't
have the option of even thinking about driving. A
breathalyzer before getting keys back wouldn't be
a bad idea either.

 

[Anonymous-0]

I agree. A guy sleeping in the back seat of his car isn't hurting anybody. It's not like they can stay in the bar after closing and sleep it off. Sometimes the car is the only shelter. They should be commended for not driving.

As far as coming on your property, I think the cops can go on anyone's property if there is probable cause to suspect something. They might want to ask about something that happened in the neighborhood. I think they can even go in your house but if they want to search for something on your property, they need a search warrant. Just to talk to you, I think they can come on your property. If you have a cop harassing you is another story.

 

[oldtanker]

Several questions come to mind.

1. How did the cop know where to find him? They didn't just go onto his property looking to catch him at something.

2. Did he operate that tractor on the road prior to driving on his property going to sleep/passing out?

3. Why did the cops charge him with "felony drunken driving"? From the way it reads in NY subsequent offenses are charged as a felony. A prior arrest for drunk driving doesn't mean there was a conviction. Was the cop that dumb that he may have had a tip from someone who told him there was a prior convection and he failed to run the guy through the computer? Or as someone else posted was there someone with the power who told the cop go get this guy?

4. Was he set up? We had a guy at Ft Knox who's long suffering wife was tired of his drinking and filed for divorce. He went to the house she was living in and tried to reconcile with her. She fed him a 6 pack of beer then told him to go back to post. She then called the MP's and told him he husband had just left the house heading into post and he had been drinking. The aftermath was that we kicked the guy out with 19 1/2 years of service. She was mad. She had filed for 1/2 of his retirement. Because of both of their actions he did not retire.

I really find it hard to believe that a cop just went wandering around the guys property and just found him sleeping it off in that tractor.

Rick

 

[Bret4207]

Having been a New York State Trooper for better than 20 years I will make a couple of observations-

1- There's a lot more to this than the story is telling. Unless things have changed immensely in the 5 years I've been retired there is no way a Trooper would charge anyone with DWI, Felony or not, for sleeping in a tractor on his own land, drunk or not. There had to have either been a complaint from a 3rd party (most likely) or the guy had to have been driving it around on or near a road. The whole story is full of holes. Going on private property to make a summary arrest for DWI while sleeping in a tractor? Nope, there's a lot more here that isn't being told.

2- No, todays Troopers are not the guys you got 20, 30 or 40 years back. Not on the whole. That's why old dinosaurs like me had to inform them of things like the difference between a Motor Vehicle and an Implement of Husbandry, ie- car and tractor. Unfortunately there are less and less rural people on the job or, more importantly, training these kids. They only know what they are taught.

3- Laws vary from state to state so what you do in a parking lot in one state may not be illegal, while it is in another state.

4- The Felony thing- Felony DWI charges are based on the individuals history as shown through NYSPIN and NCIC records. It is entirely possible a court incorrectly reported a DWAI conviction as DWI conviction, which would carry a Felony charge or it's also possible he was never charged with a Felony in the first place and the paper got it completely wrong. Just because the guys slime ball lawyer says something doesn't make it fact. Remember OJ?

5- I don't know what happened, but the guy sounds like a drunk to me.

 

[JDemaris]

To answer those that think there must be "more to the story." Yeah, there probably is but I'm not a "insider."

I do know this. Someone here says driveways are considered "quasi-public." No they are not. Not quasi, and not de facto. Not private drives. Here we can chain them off to the public if we want as long as we do not interfere with a Town highway right-of-way. But if along a State or county highway - that right-of-way is very wide.

Who called the police? They got an "anonymous complaint." Keep in mind this was not just the guy's private home. It is also a garden center where he sells farm and garden supplies. Basically a rural home with a bunch of green-houses. I was told the place was closed when this happened.

This guy is also the political leader of the town (Town Supervisor), so I assume he has a few enemies.

 

[PJH]

My father-in-law was driving out his lane one rainy day and found his neighbor "napping" in his big cab tractor. The tractor was hooked to a big disk, and was sitting still, with the wheels churning, a balled up muddy mess. He thought the guy had died of a heart attack, but when he opened the cab door, the empties rolled out on the ground. He got the tractor shut down. Couldn't rouse him, so he told the family where he was. No cops involved, and this guy was a local politician too (see the pattern?) Apparently he was disking when it started raining, and he (or the tractor) finally found a spot wet enough to spin out in.

 

[oldtanker]

JD, just a short while ago some drug guy tried beating a case against him because the cops had put a tracking device on his car. Courts ruled that the cops were legal as long as they did not leave the driveway of the guys home while placing the device. That the driveway/sidewalk is considered a public access to the home. Only exception is locked gates. Had the guy parked on the lawn the cops would have been illegal. The exception there would be probable cause, that wouldn't cover the tracking device..

Rick

 

[JDemaris]

I used to have a farmer neighbor who was still "helping" at the family farm when 102 years old. One day I found his big Deere cabbed tractor sitting in the middle of a town road with the engine running. Middle of the day. Ends up he got tired and just "went to sleep" with the engine running. No booze. Just old age and exhaustion, I guess. When I first saw him - thought he'd finally kicked the bucket. Nope.

With the case of this "youthful" town supervisor (in his 50s maybe) . . . supposedly the engine was not running . Keys there - yes. Had he been drinking? Probably. Drunk? I doubt it. On his own land bothering nobody? Yes, as far as I can tell. I many times have run my tractor with a beer in my hand. Maybe I need to be arrested?

 

[Goose]

Reminds me of a time when I was stationed at MCAS, Cherry Point, NC. A buddy of mine had gone to a dance at Washington, NC, and on the way back to the base decided he was too drunk/sleepy to make the last 20 miles. He pulled over to the side of a street in New Bern, NC and sacked out on the front seat of his car.

He awoke to a New Bern city cop pounding on his car window. Dick kind of jumped when he woke up, and the cop claimed Dick jumped AT him. The cop wrote Dick up for assaulting an officer, resisting arrest, drunken driving, public drunkenness, vagrancy, illegal parking, and maybe some other charges I've missed up to, and including, general principles.

Dick took our squadron legal officer with him when he went to court. The judge read off all of the charges and asked Dick if he had anything to say for himself. Dick, being a cynical sort, replied, "You forgot 'murder'". The judge wrote down "Contempt of Court".

When the dust cleared and the smoke settled, all they made stick was Illegal Parking and Contempt of Court. (He did pull over in a no overnight parking area).

Dick was on his own on this one, but I could tell many other stories about the mayhem that seemed to follow the two of us around.

 

[oldtanker]

(quoted from post at 06:56:01 09/30/13) Reminds me of a time when I was stationed at MCAS, Cherry Point, NC. A buddy of mine had gone to a dance at Washington, NC, and on the way back to the base decided he was too drunk/sleepy to make the last 20 miles. He pulled over to the side of a street in New Bern, NC and sacked out on the front seat of his car.

He awoke to a New Bern city cop pounding on his car window. Dick kind of jumped when he woke up, and the cop claimed Dick jumped AT him. The cop wrote Dick up for assaulting an officer, resisting arrest, drunken driving, public drunkenness, vagrancy, illegal parking, and maybe some other charges I've missed up to, and including, general principles.

Dick took our squadron legal officer with him when he went to court. The judge read off all of the charges and asked Dick if he had anything to say for himself. Dick, being a cynical sort, replied, "You forgot 'murder'". The judge wrote down "Contempt of Court".

When the dust cleared and the smoke settled, all they made stick was Illegal Parking and Contempt of Court. (He did pull over in a no overnight parking area).

Dick was on his own on this one, but I could tell many other stories about the mayhem that seemed to follow the two of us around.

When MADD started getting states to crack down on drinking and driving they also went after the military. By the time I arrived at Ft Knox in 87 a DUI was a career stopper for almost everyone. Plus KY had gotten tuff on DUI's. Was common to hear about a soldier getting a DUI while sleeping in their car in a bar parking lot in Louisville.

Makes a guy want to join DAMM (drunks against mad mothers) (I really hope you guys know I'm joking about DAMM).

Rick

 

[Brad Buchanan]

I don't know if this applies in this case but I know that the state right of way on any road that is designated a 'state route' extends 33 1/3 feet from the centerline of the road.

Dealt with this many times when I was in the billboard business.

Brad

 

[Mike (WA)]

Some states have a "physical control" law- Physical control of a motor vehicle while intoxicated. Ends up being the same penalty and record as a DUI. Sleeping in the car with key in ignition or in pocket would get you the ticket. Years ago, locking the key in the trunk would get you off, but now with remote trunk openers in cars, I'm not sure. Only sure way to sleep one off in the car is to hide the key away from the car (under a rock at the edge of the parking lot, or some such), then tell the cop you don't know where the key is. But most drunks aren't thinking clearly enough to do so.

I would think it would be pretty easy to get an acquittal on the merits, on a guy sleeping in his tractor on his own property, with no indication of having driven, or future intent to drive, on a public road. But a lot would depend on the politics involved in this one.

 

[JDemaris]

Yes - right-of-ways for state and county roads are very wide. Also many state roads are actually owned by the state. Not the case with town roads. In my town - 99% of the public roads are on private property with right-of-ways created by "easement by prescription." That entitles the town a right-of-way only as wide as has been historically maintained and no more. It's its a dirt two-track with no maintained shoulders -the town cannot widen it unless they purchase the land - or steal it by eminent domain.

 

[C W Hinton]

For it's worth, any area that's open to "public vehicular traffic", i.e., driveway, parkinhg lot, etc.is by statute a "public vehicular area" where the authorites have full jusidiction. (I'm a retired LEO with twenty five years experience. I wish I had a 100 dollar bill for all the arrests I made in "public vehicular area").

 

[MarkB_MI]

I'm with Bret on this one. Anytime the particulars make absolutely no sense, it's a pretty fair assumption you don't have all the particulars. I'm going to go out on a limb and say that it is not standard procedure for NY state troopers to search tractor cabs on private property and to administer breathalyzer tests to occupants of said cabs.

Google is our friend here. We quickly find the article in the "disgustingly abundant" local newspaper: In addition to the article itself, there are a couple of interesting comments:

"I heard this go out on the scanner....he was driving his tractor on a roadway and spilled large rocks on a county highway. His neighbors complained and he was found in his tractor "napping"....Some may call it passed out. "

"The rumor mill in Davenport is that it wasn't a bucket truck....it was the bucket of his tractor that the gravel fell out of which caused it to block part of a county highway that almost caused several accidents. His neighbors were the ones who called 911. And give it a rest....no pun intended....he was not "napping"....he was passed out."

These are of course anonymous comments and should be taken with a grain of salt. But even without these comments, two things are clear from the article: 1) The police believed he was responsible for debris on the road, and that's why they were looking for him; and 2) he was legally over the limit, although just barely at .08 percent BAC.

I'd say the guy was lucky to have his case thrown out of court. Hopefully he learned something from this experience and will refrain from operating equipment on the roadway after drinking. If not, you can be sure the disgustingly abundant state police will come loaded for bear the next time they have a problem with him and likewise with the disgustingly abundant district attorney. The disgustingly abundant judge just might not throw out the charges next time.
Davenport supervisor charged with DWI

 

[Tony S.]

Thought it was DAM. Mothers against dyslexia.

 

[Bret4207]

Mark, thanks for doing some digging, that makes more sense.

I would also note another thing- normally if a politician beats a charge everyone here is up in arms crying foul. I know nothing about the town this took place in, but based on my experience, it's possible the Town Supervisors position and political connections helped him a bit. Are we so self centered that the fact a tractor was involved makes us blind to the fact this guy was apparently driving drunk on a road way and could have killed or hurt several people? .08% is not "barely drunk" for most people. Back when I was drinking I took breath tests several times when I was clearly toasted by my own admission. I never got higher than a .12% BAC. .03%-.10% BAC is that range where you feel fine but your actually ARE wasted and shouldn't be doing a lot of things, like driving or cozying up to someone else's wife. Your judgement is off.

Whatever happened, I do hope this guy learned the right lesson and not that he's an untouchable politician that can do whatever he wants and laugh at the law. We ahve too many of that kind already.