State of Maryland v. Robert Anthony Aponte

Baltimore, Maryland criminal defense lawyer represented the Defendant charged with DUI.



A call was received for someone leaving a party that was intoxicated. The description of the vehicle was . . . a Jeep Cherokee and it gave the general vicinity, I believe, on Sparrows Point, where the vehicle had left from. As I was in the area, I observed a vehicle parked on the side of North Point Boulevard partially in the roadway at an angle.



The vehicle . . . initially caught my attention because the headlights were on and it just looked off and it was coming, it was on the northbound side of North Point Boulevard, which would indicate that it had just come from Sparrows Point, because Sparrows Point is to the south of that area.



[The vehicle] was at an angle partially in the shoulder or I guess curb edge of the roadway, partially in a driveway to a business. There was a, like an apron into a business right there that was closed at the time with a gate coming across.



And the presence of that vehicle in that area, again, with the headlights on, at that time, drew my attention because for one, the business was closed and for two, the way it was parked was, looked abnormal because it was partially in the roadway. And it looked like it could be struck by a vehicle coming northbound if the person like was on the . . . line and close to the edge.



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CRIMINAL LAW. DRIVING WHILE IMPAIRED BY ALCOHOL. The issue is whether the evidence was sufficient to sustain a conviction for driving while impaired by alcohol, focusing on whether the appellant was in "actual physical control" of the vehicle at the time of police detection, given the circumstances surrounding the vehicle's position and condition.



Key Phrases Driving while impaired. Actual physical control. Probable cause determination. Body worn camera. Circuits court judgment.

Affirmed