NORWICH – A man accused of driving while intoxicated appeared in Chenango County Court to begin his jury trial Monday.
Jury selection was completed and one witness called yesterday. The case continued this morning at the county courthouse and is expected to finish this afternoon.
Robert G. Niles, is charged with DWI, accused of crashing his Toyota pick-up truck near his home on Corbin Road in Afton on Oct., 28, 2006, after allegedly drinking prior to the accident at his place of employment.
Niles, however, contends he walked the short distance to his residence just down the road and began drinking at his home while waiting for friends to come help him out.
“This is really a case of their word against ours, and there is no hard evidence to support the charges,” said Defense Attorney Jeffrey Leibo.
New York State Trooper Craig T. Starr, a seven-year veteran, testified at the trial yesterday.
At a previous hearing ,Starr said, “I came up on the Toyota pick-up in a ditch, empty, I looked in and around the vehicle and noticed an odor of alcohol and beer cans scattered inside the vehicle. As I was doing this, a man with a flash light came walking down the road.”
Starr said the defendant smelled of alcohol, had difficulty speaking with him and actually slipped into the truck because he was losing his balance.
“I asked him how his truck got there and originally he said someone must have taken it from his driveway. I took him aside and basically told him I didn’t believe that and he then admitted he was driving the vehicle,” said Starr.
According to the Starr’s testimony, Niles wrecked his pick-up an hour earlier at about 6:30 p.m. Then he walked up to his home a short distance away and began drinking. After he noticing the flashing lights of the trooper’s patrol car Niles said he came down the road on his own at about 7:33 p.m. to see the trooper.
Starr testified however that he asked Niles two separate times if he had been drinking after the accident, once prior to arresting him and once after, and each time Niles replied he hadn’t drank after the accident. The defense denies that allegation.
Niles has two prior DWI convictions from 1997 and 2002.
Niles refused all sobriety tests but eventually submitted to a breath test at 9:12 p.m. and blew nearly three times the legal limit, said Starr.
Leibo pointed out that such a high alcohol blood content nearly three hours after the accident indicates that his client was indeed drinking after rather than prior to the incident.
Niles said the accident was caused by a mechanical failure, saying his tie rod came loose. “I couldn’t’ get under the vehicle to inspect it at the time of the accident,” said Starr. Leibo also asked if the trooper had stayed and examined the damage after it had been towed out and Starr responded, “No.”