DUI defendant loses appeal;claimed he wasn't driving

PRESS RELEASE
November 16, 2011
For Immediate Release
Contact: Bernie Weisenfeld- PIO

A state appeals court today (11/16) affirmed the drunk-driving conviction of a Gibbstown NJ man who claimed he wasn’t driving his car when it crashed into another vehicle in Deptford NJ, even though he was found on foot near the collision with his car’s keys in his pocket.

But if he was the driver, Desmond M. Clayton (DOB 5/5/80) contended, he wasn’t drunk at the time of the crash, even though his blood-alcohol level tested at .18 a short time later.

The guilty finding in the 11/22/09 crash earned Clayton a six-month jail sentence and a 10-year driver’s license suspension because of prior DUI convictions. The municipal court conviction was upheld by Superior Court Judge Walter L. Marshall Jr. and Clayton then filed the appeal decided today.

The appeals court supported Judge Marshall’s findings based on “strong circumstantial evidence.” Clayton “smelled of alcohol, His eyes were bloodshot and watery. He had possession of his car keys,” said an appeal brief by Assistant Gloucester County Prosecutor Margaret Cipparrone.