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Posted by: kwflatbed

Daniel Winsky in court Thursday. WBZ

IPSWICH, Mass. (WBZ) ― A driving instructor in Ipswich has been charged with drunk driving for allegedly being under the influence of alcohol while teaching a lesson as a passenger in a car.

Daniel Winsky, 52, of Salem, pleaded not guilty at his arraignment in Ipswich District Court in Newburyport Thursday.

Police stopped Winsky on High Street December 26 after receiving a call from a concerned citizen. Winksy was teaching a lesson to two students for Anthony's Auto School in Ipswich when the car was pulled over.

According to court documents, police said he smelled of alcohol and his eyes were glassy.

Investigators performed a portable breathalyzer test and Winsky's blood-alcohol level was .233, well above the legal limit, according to the court papers.

Students in the car said Winsky did not appear to be acting drunk, but he was allegedly sipping on Robitussin cough medicine, according to the documents.

"We do believe that bottle may have contained not only cough syrup, but also more of a powerful alcoholic beverage and there were concerns from citizens at a local business," prosecutor Kate Hartigan said at the arraignment.

Winsky was not arrested, but was summonsed to court and charged with operating a vehicle under the influence of alcohol.

As a driving instructor, he had a brake on the passenger side of the car.

The breathalyzer test results were not admissible in court, because a formal breathalyzer was not conducted at the police station.

"He's not guilty. He did nothing wrong and we will be taking this to trial," said John Morris, Winsky's attorney.

"They don't have any evidence to suggest he was under the influence in any way."

The Massachusetts Registry of Motor Vehicles suspended Winsky's driving instructor certification temporarily in December after Ipswich police informed them about the incident.

At a hearing earlier this year, the RMV found Winsky at fault and revoked that certification permanently.

However, his driver's license is still valid and a judge found no reason to revoke his driving privileges Thursday.

Winsky had no criminal record prior to this incident. The judge told him if he gets into further legal trouble while the case is pending, he could be held without bail for up to 60 days.

http://wbztv.com/local/driving.instr....2.670773.html

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Posted by: DeputyFife

Driver's Sd Teacher Arraigned on Drunken Driving Charge Last Edited: Thursday, 06 Mar 2008, 12:13 PM EST Created: Thursday, 06 Mar 2008, 12:13 PM EST
A driving instructor accused of being drunk while teaching a lesson in Ipswich has pleaded not guilty.

Daniel Winsky of Salem was arraigned on a drunken driving charge Thursday in district court.

Court documents say the 52-year-old had a blood alcohol level of .233 after he was stopped by police in December. That's nearly three times the legal limit.

Witnesses called police while Winsky was instructing a student because he allegedly appeared drunk. Winsky wasn't driving the car, but instructors have a brake on the passenger side.

Court documents say students in the car said he didn't appear to be intoxicated, but was sipping a bottle of cough medicine.

Winsky is still allowed to drive, but is prohibited from teaching.

Winsky has an unpublished number and could not immediately be reached for comment

Driver's ed teacher arraigned on drunken driving charge


IPSWICH, Mass. -- A driving instructor accused of being drunk while teaching a lesson in Ipswich has pleaded not guilty.
Daniel Winsky of Salem was arraigned on a drunken driving charge Thursday in district court.
Court documents say the 52-year-old had a blood alcohol level of .233 after he was stopped by police in December. That's nearly three times the legal limit.
Witnesses called police while Winsky was instructing a student because he allegedly appeared drunk. Winsky wasn't driving the car, but instructors have a brake on the passenger side.
Court documents say students in the car said he didn't appear to be intoxicated, but was sipping a bottle of cough medicine.
Winsky is still allowed to drive, but is prohibited from teaching.
Winsky has an unpublished number and could not immediately be reached for comment.
(Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

Driving instructor pleads not guilty

By Andrea Bulfinch/ABULFIN@CNC.COM

Thu Mar 06, 2008, 03:52 PM EST

Ipswich -

Ipswich - Daniel L. Winsky of 26 Andrew St., Salem, pleaded not guilty in Newburyport District Court this morning after being summonsed on charges of operating under the influence of liquor. Winsky, who is employed with Anthony's Auto School in Ipswich, was ordered by Judge Allen Swan not to teach driver education while the case is pending.
On December 26, Winsky allegedly conducted a driving lesson for Anthony's Auto School while he was under the influence with two student drivers in the vehicle.
According to the police report, the car made a stop at Cumberland Farms on Central Street, where Winsky purchased a bottle of soda and a bottle of water. A customer at the store then called police to report a strong odor of alcohol from the man, who then got into the small gray sedan with an Anthony's Auto School sign on the roof.
Though a student was behind the wheel at the time of the stop, the police report states a student driver told Det. Peter Dziadose that when the police turned on the cruiser's lights and siren, Winsky aided the student in pulling the car over by grabbing and holding the wheel with him. Winsky also used the brake located in the driver's compartment to stop the vehicle.
The same student also stated he did not detect an odor of alcohol and that Winsky did not appear drunk in the vehicle. He said Winsky did not act like friends he'd witnessed being intoxicated.
Another student reported Winsky picked her up at a friend's house prior to the lesson. The same student received a call from Winsky after being questioned by police to inquire about her statements. Winsky confirmed her driving lesson scheduled for the following day. She later described Winsky to her father as being a little weird and said he drinks Robitussin when she is in the car claiming he does not want to get sick around all the kids.
Portable breathalyzer results were inadmissible in court because a second test was not performed at the station. Winsky's roadside results were .233, according to the police report. Winsky denied drinking anything that day, but when asked whether he'd been drinking heavily the day before, he responded, "Of course, it was Christmas."
Winsky is due back in court for a pretrial hearing April 24.

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Posted by: DeputyFife

Published: March 06, 2008 02:28 pm
Driver's ed teacher charged with driving drunk
By Julie Manganis
Staff writer


IPSWICH — A driving school teacher from Salem has been charged with drunken driving after police say he was under the influence of alcohol while giving lessons to two students last December.
Daniel Winsky, 52, pleaded not guilty to the charge and was released on his own recognizance.
Prosecutor Kate Hartigan told a Newburyport District Court judge Thursday that two women in a convenience store became concerned when he walked in to buy a soda, reeking of alcohol. Their concern only grew when they saw him getting into the passenger seat of an Anthony's Auto School car.
Police caught up with the car a short distance away on High Street (Route 1A) and, they say, the student driver immediately pulled over. A portable Breathalyzer test at the scene showed a blood alcohol level of .23, nearly three times the legal limit, although those results are not admissible in court.
Police did not immediately arrest Winsky, so they did not offer him a formal Breathalyzer test at the station.
Because of that, Judge Allen Swan said he had no authority to suspend Winsky's driver's license.
Winsky's lawyer, John Morris, said his client was not guilty and looks forward to a trial. The case raises a novel legal issue — because while Winsky was not at the wheel of the car, he did have access to a second brake pedal and also helped the student steer to pull over.
Winsky was ordered not to teach driving while the case is pending.

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Posted by: Delta784

Quote:

Originally Posted by DeputyFife Police did not immediately arrest Winsky

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Posted by: 94c

Quote:

Originally Posted by Delta784

maybe a question of operation????

If so, then why charge him in the first place?

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Posted by: Delta784

Quote:

Originally Posted by 94c maybe a question of operation???? If so, then why charge him in the first place?

Exactly....at least get him to the station & on video being booked, and offer the breath test.

I would say that having a brake pedal and the authority over operation of a vehicle constitutes operation.

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Posted by: 94c

My argument would be that he did nothing to set the vehicle in motion and it isn't possible to have two people operating the same motor vehicle at the same time.

Either way, interesting case...

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Posted by: DeputyFife

Cops say her driving instructor was drunk

Teen: ‘I smelled alcohol on his breath’

By Marie Szaniszlo and Laurel J. Sweet
Friday, March 7, 2008 - Updated 54m ago

An Ipswich driving instructor who pleaded not guilty yesterday to driving under the influence while teaching teens reeked of alcohol while sipping from a cough syrup bottle during lessons, one of his students tells the Herald.
“Every time I was in the car with him, I smelled alcohol on his breath, but I thought it was the Robitussin,” said Chelsea Mitchell-Eby, referring to the cough syrup bottle from which her instructor, Daniel L. Winsky, had reportedly been drinking.
It wasn’t until officers pulled the instructor’s car over on Dec. 26 in Ipswich and asked Winsky to walk in a straight line that Mitchell-Eby, 16, began to question his claim that he was only trying to avoid catching students’ colds.
“He couldn’t keep his balance,” she said. “He said, ‘Oh, I’m just nervous.’ ”
Police say officers cornered the car after a customer at a local Cumberland Farms reported smelling alcohol on Winsky’s breath while watching him climb into the car with two teenagers. Winsky, 52, of Salem was seated in the front passenger side, which has its own brake.
A portable Breathalyzer showed he had a blood-alcohol content of .23, nearly three times the legal limit, Assistant District Attorney Kate Hartigan said yesterday.
“We do believe that bottle may have contained not only cough syrup, but also more of a powerful alcoholic beverage,” Hartigan said.
Winsky’s attorney John Morris argued yesterday the test results are not admissible because the officers did not administer a formal Breathalyzer test.
Four officers questioned Mitchell-Eby and the other student, and both told police Winsky hadn’t seemed drunk, Morris added. Instead of arresting him, police issued him a summons, drove the students home and called Anthony’s Auto School in Ipswich to come pick up the car.
Mitchell-Eby, who had paid $480 for lessons, later called the school asking for a refund. The school could not be reached yesterday for comment.
Winsky has no prior driving charges, according to the state Registry of Motor Vehicles. The registry has since suspended his instructor’s certification.
At a Jan. 11 hearing, Winsky was found at fault and his certification revoked based on a police report and the testimony of two officers, two witnesses and two student drivers, according to the registry. Winsky had been a driving instructor since 1993.

mszaniszlo@bostonherald.com

<H4>Photos & Galleries

Photo by Patrick Whittemore

Ipswich High School student Chelsea Mitchell-Eby.

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Posted by: DeputyFife

Published: October 03, 2008 06:00 am ShareThisPrintThis
3
Judge refuses to toss driving teacher's OUI case
By Julie Manganis
Staff writer


IPSWICH — A judge has denied a motion to dismiss drunken driving charges against a former driving school instructor who was suspected of being drunk as he gave a lesson last December.
Daniel Winsky's lawyer is vowing an appeal, which could set a legal precedent on an unusual legal question: whether Winsky could be considered to have been "operating" the vehicle from the passenger seat, a required legal element of the charge of drunken driving.
In a decision last month, Newburyport District Court Judge Michael Uhlarik said yes he could — given that Winsky allegedly turned the wheel and used a foot brake on the passenger side of the driving school car on the morning of Dec. 26, 2007.
In his ruling, Uhlarik noted that there is no specific definition of the term "operation" in the state's drunken driving law, but pointed to two Supreme Judicial Court rulings that held that operation consists of a person manipulating some mechanical or electrical part of the vehicle.
Winsky, the judge wrote, allegedly "grabbed and turned" the steering wheel and used a brake pedal, and "both are mechanical parts and controls."
There is nothing in the law that states that an operator must be sitting in the driver's seat at the time, the judge wrote.
He found that it was not relevant that Winsky was sitting in the passenger seat.
The judge considered decisions in other states as well, citing cases from Michigan, New York, Virginia and Pennsylvania, in his ruling.
But there is no case law on the specific question of whether someone can be charged with drunken driving while sitting in the passenger seat.
Winsky's lawyer, John Morris, could change that if he moves forward with an appeal in the case.
Winsky, 52, of 26 Andrew St., Salem, had worked for Anthony's Auto School. On the day after Christmas, he was giving driving lessons to three students when he had one of the students pull into a Cumberland Farms in downtown Ipswich so he could get some coffee.
The clerk and a customer told police that they noticed a strong odor of alcohol on Winsky's breath and were shocked to see him get into the driving school car.
They called police, who stopped Winsky a short distance away. Police say Winsky turned the wheel and used the brake on the passenger side to pull the car over for the driving student.
The students in the car said they did not smell alcohol but did say that they had noticed Winsky sipping from a bottle of Robitussin cough syrup that morning. He told the students he had a cold.
Police did not charge Winsky that day, however, because of their own uncertainty over the law. A clerk magistrate later issued the charges against Winsky following a hearing.
Winsky pleaded not guilty at his arraignment in April. A status hearing in the case was scheduled for Oct. 23.

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