People v. Slade

This is an appeal from a conviction in Police Court in the Village of Wolcott, New York, convicting the defendant of a charge of driving while intoxicated in violation of subdivision 5 of section 70 of the Vehicle and Traffic Law.

The issue was sharply contested in a trial before the Police Justice without a jury.

It was stipulated by counsel that the testimony of the trial be taken on a tape recorder. As a result, the trial Justice made few, if any, notes of the testimony. It developed that for some unexplained reason, the tape recorder failed to record part of the cross-examination of one of…