Man With 3 DWIs Loses Appeal

PRESS RELEASE
May 16, 2011
For Immediate Release
Contact: Bernie Weisenfeld- PIO
Phone: (856) 384-5617; Pager (856) 251-4736
Re.: Man with 3 DWIs loses appeal

A Vineland man found guilty of driving drunk three times lost an appeal today (5/16) to overturn the second conviction based on a claim that a municipal judge erred by not orally informing him of the increased penalties for a third DWI.

A Superior Court appellate panel affirmed the 2004 conviction of Sean P. McCormick, relying on a similar 1991 appellate decision in which a person convicted a second time of driving while intoxicated sought a dismissal of enhanced penalties because he did not receive “mandated oral advice” about the fines and driving suspensions a subsequent offense would bring. The court dismissed that argument, saying there was an “obvious legislative intent” to punish subsequent convictions more severely, regardless of prior oral or written warnings.

In his brief opposing McCormick’s appeal, Assistant Gloucester County Prosecutor Joseph Enos pointed to Superior Court Judge Walter A. Marshall’s previous ruling on this case: that oral notification of penalties was intended only “to hopefully deter” repeat violations.