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Wrongly Convicted Database Record
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Charge: |
Driving Under the Influence of Alcohol or Drugs |
Sentence: |
12 months probation & $300 fine |
Years Imprisoned: |
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Year Crime: |
2011 |
Year Convicted: |
2011 |
Year Cleared: |
2016 |
U.S. State or Country of Crime: |
New York |
County or Region of Crime: |
Bronx |
City of Crime: |
New York City |
Result: |
Judicially Exonerated |
Summary of Case: |
"Leonardo Coronado was wrongly convicted on October 11, 2011 of operating a motor vehicle while under the influence of alcohol in Bronx County, New York. Coronado's conviction was based on his arrest after police saw what they thought was him being victimized by a person who might have been trying to rob him. Coronado was in the driver's side of a car and the other man leaning in the open passenger's side door, as he was pulling Coronado and the men were shouting at each other. When the police saw Coronado and the other man walking toward a bar, they approached and the other man tried to run away. The police stopped Coronado, and at that time observed signs that he was intoxicated, and he was arrested him for driving while intoxicated -- although the police didn't actually see him drive the car in which he was sitting. After his conviction Coronado was sentenced to a conditional discharge on probation for one year and a $300 fine, Coronado appealed, arguing the police had illegally stopped him because they had no reason to believe that he had been committing a crime. On May 5, 2016 vacated Cornonado's conviction and ordered dismissal of the charges. The Court ruled: "The officers’ testimony indicated that they did not perceive signs that defendant had committed the crime of operating a motor vehicle while under the influence of alcohol until after defendant was seized while walking away from the officers and then turned toward them. Thus, the officers’ observations did not provide reasonable suspicion to stop defendant, in the absence of “a particularized and objective basis for suspecting the particular person stopped of criminal activity. ..Because proof of defendant’s intoxication depended on the fruits of the unlawful stop, we dismiss the accusatory instrument." " |
Conviction Caused By: |
Illegal stop and arrest by police. |
Innocence Proved By: |
"On May 5, 2016 vacated Cornonado's conviction and ordered dismissal of the charges. The Court ruled: "The officers’ testimony indicated that they did not perceive signs that defendant had committed the crime of operating a motor vehicle while under the influence of alcohol until after defendant was seized while walking away from the officers and then turned toward them. Thus, the officers’ observations did not provide reasonable suspicion to stop defendant, in the absence of “a particularized and objective basis for suspecting the particular person stopped of criminal activity. ..Because proof of defendant’s intoxication depended on the fruits of the unlawful stop, we dismiss the accusatory instrument."" |
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Was Perpetrator Identified? |
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Sex: |
Male |
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Information Source 1: |
"The People of the State of New York v. Leonardo Coronado, No. 66965C/09 (NY Supreme Court, Appellate Div., First Dept., May 5, 2016) (Vacating conviction and ordering dismissal of charge based on illegal stop and seizure.)" |
Information Location 1: |
http://www.courts.state.ny.us/courts/AD1/calendar/appsmots/2016/May/2016_05_05_dec.pdf |
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Innocents Database Created and Maintained by Hans Sherrer innocents@forejustice.org