Minnesota Supreme Court Upholds DUI Conviction Of Man Caught Sleeping In Car

The Supreme Court of Minnesota on Thursday upheld the drunk driving conviction of a man caught asleep behind the wheel of a vehicle that would not start. At 11:30pm on June 11, 2007, police found Daryl Fleck sleeping in his own legally parked car in his apartment complex parking lot. The vehicle's engine was cold to the touch, indicating it had not been driven recently. The keys were in the center console, not the ignition. Fleck admitted to having consumed around a dozen beers that night. Officers at the scene arrested him, and his blood alcohol level was found to be .18. A few weeks after Fleck's vehicle was impounded, a police officer tested the vehicle using the keys found in the car's center console.

"Although the key turned in the ignition, the vehicle would not start," Justice Alan C. Page explained in the unanimous decision.

Laws covering driving under the influence of alcohol (DUI) have evolved over the years to cover the situations where police find a parked, but recently driven, vehicle with a drunk behind the wheel. In the 1992 case Minnesota v. Starfield, the court found a drunk passenger sitting in a vehicle stuck in a ditch guilty of DUI, but not because it could prove she really was the one who drove and caused the accident. Instead, the court ruled that "towing assistance [was] likely available" creating the theoretical possibility that the immobile vehicle could "easily" be made mobile. These defendants have been charged under an expanded definition that suggests having "dominion and control" with the mere potential to drive is a crime. Intending to sleep off a night of drinking treated as the same crime as attempting to drive home under this legal theory which does not take motive into account.

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Whelan - 1/26/2010 12:09:35 PM

+6 Boost

Lame if you ask me. So the word is that if you are drunk and want to sleep it off in your car or go in your car for a rest, then you should sit in the back seat? What ridiculous laws.

Agent009 - 1/26/2010 12:43:41 PM

+1 Boost

Actually he probably could still get nailed for it in the back seat. Come to think of it probably even if he was sleeping on the hood! The interpretation leads me to believe he was convicted on the potential.

M35MT - 1/26/2010 3:23:38 PM

+1 Boost

Amen!

pennfootball - 1/26/2010 12:24:18 PM

+2 Boost

This is a freaking police state and they will do anything in their power to make people pay 3500 plus dollars for a DUI! Artie Lang got one for taking a prescribed pill the day before! Just have a freind drive you or get a Taxi...you are doomed.

cdoke - 1/26/2010 12:41:02 PM

+8 Boost

First the "D" in DUI stands for "Driving", and unless someone is actually caught driving (under the influence), then it is NOT a DUI, and I don't care what some borderline retarded, semi-sociopathic power hungry attorney who only managed to get through college due to grade inflation thinks on the subject.

Second, the law does no extend to POTENTIAL to commit a crime (thought crime, anyone?) - it applies only to committed actions.

rxh8me9000 - 1/26/2010 1:52:54 PM

+3 Boost

What kind of shit is this? If you do the right thing and DO NOT drive while you are drunk,its illegal? If that's the case you might as well drive home because the same thing will happen if you get caught.This guy is clearly innocent. The car would not start and the motor was cold. This is what happens when pigs get bored. Cops do the right thing and are understanding. Pigs bust your balls and act like they never did anything wrong in life.

SHOWTIME - 1/26/2010 2:44:38 PM

+2 Boost

I honestly wish someone would firebomb the house of the police who arrested him and the judge who made this decision. Then the rest of the judges and cops can worry about some real crime. Pieces of shits!

Whelan - 1/26/2010 4:37:00 PM

+2 Boost

The way I see it, if your car was not driven by you to the party you stay get hammered quickly and end up in your car, as long as the keys are not in the ignition then you should not be arrested. I've had friends go back to the car plenty of times while we continued a party. Seems the police should do more good acts and call him a cab or something. Spending time with a parked car that has a drunk in it NOT Driving is a waste when probably 10 other drunks drove by them during this ordeal.

Threepoint1415926 - 1/27/2010 3:03:55 AM

+1 Boost

This person was sentenced to 4 years in prison!?!?!?!?!?!

2003TCSignature - 1/27/2010 10:18:26 AM

+1 Boost

STOOOOPID!!!