Criminal Justice
N.Y. DWI Law Doesn’t Cover Inhalants
New York’s highest court has held that a law barring driving while intoxicated does not apply to impairment from inhaling chemicals from an aerosol can.
The New York Court of Appeals said the law covers only impairment from alcohol, the New York Law Journal reports.
The court ruled (PDF) yesterday in an appeal by Vincent Litto, charged with causing a car accident that killed four people after he inhaled Dust-Off. The product is used to clean computer keyboards.
Litto was not charged with driving while impaired by drugs because the chemical is not on a list of substances covered by the law. He still faces charges of criminally negligent homicide, reckless endangerment and assault.
