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Wrongly Convicted Database Record
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Charge: |
Driving Under the Influence of Alcohol or Drugs and Resisting Arrest |
Sentence: |
Probation |
Years Imprisoned: |
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Year Crime: |
2015 |
Year Convicted: |
2015 |
Year Cleared: |
2018 |
U.S. State or Country of Crime: |
New York |
County or Region of Crime: |
Richmond |
City of Crime: |
New York City |
Result: |
Judicially Exonerated |
Summary of Case: |
"Monique Esposito was wrongly convicted on November 19, 2015 of resisting arrest and common-law driving while intoxicated on March 8, 2015 on Staten Island, New York. The 41-year-old Esposito's prosecution was based on her being seen by a police officer two block from a collision on Staten Island, and when questioned she told him "I was chasing my boyfriend and I hit a tree." She had an odor of alcohol on her breath, her speach was slurred and her eyes were bloodshot, so the officer arrested her for DWI. She was also charged with resisting arrest because while being arrested she struggled with the officer, tried to push him away, and refused to be handcuffed. After a jury trial Esposition was convicted, and she was sentenced on December 2, 2015 to probation. She appealed. On August 3, 2018 the New York Supreme Ct, Appellate Term, Second Dept. unanimously reversed Esposito's convictions because the information charging her was fatally defective and its dismissal was required because it didn't allege facts linking Esposito to the alleged auto accident that underlied her DWI arrest, and that defectuve charge provided probable cause for her resisting arrest charge. The Court stated: "A valid and sufficient accusatory instrument is a nonwaivable jurisdictional prerequisite to a criminal prosecution. ...There was no allegation as to what the vehicle had collided with. Nor was there any allegation connecting defendant to the vehicle or to the collision in question. Thus, even when "given a fair and not overly restrictive or technical reading" (People v Casey, 95 NY2d at 360), the accusatory instrument was jurisdictionally defective, as it failed to establish that defendant had operated the Hyundai SUV involved in the accident or, for that matter, any other vehicle. To be jurisdictionally sufficient, the factual part of an accusatory instrument alleging resisting arrest (Penal Law § 205.30) must set forth allegations sufficient to establish, if true, that the defendant's arrest was lawful and "premised on probable cause." [] As the counts contained in the information charging defendant with common-law driving while intoxicated and driving while ability impaired are jurisdictionally defective for the reason noted above, we find that a necessary element of the charge of resisting arrest—that defendant's arrest was lawful—has not been alleged."" |
Conviction Caused By: |
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Innocence Proved By: |
"On August 3, 2018 the New York Supreme Ct, Appellate Term, Second Dept. unanimously reversed Esposito's convictions because the information charging her was fatally defective and its dismissal was required because it didn't allege facts linking Esposito to the alleged auto accident that underlied her DWI arrest, and that defectuve charge provided probable cause for her resisting arrest charge." |
Defendant Aided By: |
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Compensation Awarded: |
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Was Perpetrator Identified? |
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Age When Imprisoned: |
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Age When Released: |
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Sex: |
Female |
Skin/Ethnicity: |
White |
Information Source 1: |
"People v Esposito (Monique) 2018 NY Slip Op 28245 (NY Supreme Ct, Appellate Term, Second Dept, Aug 3, 2018) (Charging instrument is fatally defective and must be dismissed because it doesn't allege facts linking Esposito to her alleged crimes.)" |
Information Location 1: |
https://law.justia.com/cases/new-york/appellate-term-second-department/2018/2018-ny-slip-op-28245.html |
Information Source 2: |
"I was chasing my boyfriend and I hit a tree,' drunken driver says after Charleston crash, NYPD alleges, By John M. Annese, Silive.com, March 10, 2015" |
Information Location 2: |
https://www.silive.com/news/2015/03/i_was_chasing_my_boyfriend_and.html |
Information Source 3: |
"DWI conviction for woman in South Shore crash into tree; told cops she was chasing boyfriend, By Frank Donnelly, Silive.com, November 19, 2015" |
Information Location 3: |
https://www.silive.com/southshore/index.ssf/2015/11/dwi_conviction_for_woman_who_c.html |
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Innocents Database Created and Maintained by Hans Sherrer innocents@forejustice.org