Wrong Way Throughout Yonkers

The New York Appellate Division for the Second Judicial Department has censured an attorney

By felony complaint dated May 18, 2017, and filed in the City Court of Yonkers, County of Westchester, the respondent was charged with reckless endangerment in the first degree, in violation of Penal Law § 120.25. The complaint alleged that on May 18, 2017, at approximately 2:28 a.m., the respondent drove his vehicle while in an intoxicated condition and, for approximately 10 miles, drove his vehicle in the wrong direction on various parkways throughout Yonkers.

On December 14, 2017, the respondent pleaded guilty in the County Court, Westchester County, before the Honorable Susan Cacace, to driving while intoxicated, in violation of Vehicle and Traffic Law § 1192(3), and reckless driving, in violation of Vehicle and Traffic Law § 1212, in satisfaction of the charges. At his plea allocution, the respondent admitted that he operated his motor vehicle while in an intoxicated condition and in a manner which unreasonably endangered users of the public highway.

The difference between a felony as opposed to a misdemeanor conviction is profound

In determining an appropriate measure of discipline to impose, we note that, in his submissions to this Court and in his testimony at the hearing, the respondent has been candid and repeatedly acknowledged the wrongfulness of his decision to operate a motor vehicle after consuming alcohol and a controlled substance. He has accepted responsibility for his actions and demonstrated sincere remorse for his conduct. In that regard, the Special Referee reported that he was “convinced that the [r]espondent’s remorse is real and honest and that currently he is committed to never repeating such actions again.” We have also considered the respondent’s compliance with the terms of probation, his voluntary rehabilitative efforts, and the testimony and numerous letters in support of his good character, as well as the isolated nature of the conduct by an attorney with an unblemished disciplinary record.

Under the totality of the circumstances, the respondent is publicly censured.

(Mike Frisch)