Man found guilty at DWI trial pleads for leniency
NORWICH – A man found guilty by a jury of his peers was sentenced to state prison for his repeated alcohol abuse Friday.
Robert G. Niles of Bainbridge will spend the next two to six years in state prison for driving while intoxicated. He also has two prior DWI convictions from 1997 and 2002.
At sentencing, Defense Attorney Jeffrey Leibo and Niles both pleaded with the court for a lighter sentence, citing the fact Niles had just become a father.
“Come on, your honor -- she’ll be nearly five years old when I get out. Can’t something be done so I can be there?” asked Niles.
“If only we could look into the windows of your soul and see what kind of future you might have, but we can’t. We have already been down this road before without much change. Hopefully this will be that point of change,” Chenango County Court Judge W. Howard Sullivan said at sentencing.
This past July, after just an hour of deliberations, a jury found Niles guilty of driving while intoxicated (a class D felony) and driving under the influence of alcohol. The jury listened to testimony from three witness over two days.
Niles crashed his Toyota pick-up truck near his home on Corbin Road in Afton on Oct. 28 after drinking prior to the accident at his place of employment.
At his trial, New York State Trooper Craig T. Starr testified he came across the pick-up truck in a ditch. Niles then came walking down the road and admitted he was highly intoxicated at the time, Starr said.
“I’m an alcoholic for one, I get frustrated, I get upset and I sometimes get drunk,” said Niles on the stand. He claimed he walked to his residence, “about a mile down the road” and made several calls looking for someone to help him. After failing to locate anyone, Niles said he became frustrated and drank between “eight and twelve beers” after the accident.
Starr testified Niles made a number of statements to him admitting he had been drinking before the crash and begged the trooper to let him go. “He begged me to let him go, saying he had almost made it home,” said Starr.
Niles said he was so intoxicated at the time he met the trooper he couldn’t remember what he had said. “I was drunk. I’m sure I said a lot of things. I don’t recall,” said Niles.
About three hours after his accident, Niles blew an alcohol blood percentage above .3 percent, well over three times the legal limit. Starr said it was one of the highest he had ever seen in the course of his police work.
The defense pointed out that such a high alcohol blood content nearly three hours after the alleged accident indicated that his client was indeed drinking after rather than prior to the accident.
Niles had claimed the accident was caused by a mechanical failure, saying his tire rod came loose.
Robert G. Niles of Bainbridge will spend the next two to six years in state prison for driving while intoxicated. He also has two prior DWI convictions from 1997 and 2002.
At sentencing, Defense Attorney Jeffrey Leibo and Niles both pleaded with the court for a lighter sentence, citing the fact Niles had just become a father.
“Come on, your honor -- she’ll be nearly five years old when I get out. Can’t something be done so I can be there?” asked Niles.
“If only we could look into the windows of your soul and see what kind of future you might have, but we can’t. We have already been down this road before without much change. Hopefully this will be that point of change,” Chenango County Court Judge W. Howard Sullivan said at sentencing.
This past July, after just an hour of deliberations, a jury found Niles guilty of driving while intoxicated (a class D felony) and driving under the influence of alcohol. The jury listened to testimony from three witness over two days.
Niles crashed his Toyota pick-up truck near his home on Corbin Road in Afton on Oct. 28 after drinking prior to the accident at his place of employment.
At his trial, New York State Trooper Craig T. Starr testified he came across the pick-up truck in a ditch. Niles then came walking down the road and admitted he was highly intoxicated at the time, Starr said.
“I’m an alcoholic for one, I get frustrated, I get upset and I sometimes get drunk,” said Niles on the stand. He claimed he walked to his residence, “about a mile down the road” and made several calls looking for someone to help him. After failing to locate anyone, Niles said he became frustrated and drank between “eight and twelve beers” after the accident.
Starr testified Niles made a number of statements to him admitting he had been drinking before the crash and begged the trooper to let him go. “He begged me to let him go, saying he had almost made it home,” said Starr.
Niles said he was so intoxicated at the time he met the trooper he couldn’t remember what he had said. “I was drunk. I’m sure I said a lot of things. I don’t recall,” said Niles.
About three hours after his accident, Niles blew an alcohol blood percentage above .3 percent, well over three times the legal limit. Starr said it was one of the highest he had ever seen in the course of his police work.
The defense pointed out that such a high alcohol blood content nearly three hours after the alleged accident indicated that his client was indeed drinking after rather than prior to the accident.
Niles had claimed the accident was caused by a mechanical failure, saying his tire rod came loose.
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