People v. Ardila

OPINION OF THE COURT

Memorandum.

The order of the Appellate Division should be affirmed.

The trial court did not err in instructing the jury, over defense counsel’s objection, that voluntary "intoxication” as that term is used in Vehicle and Traffic Law § 1192 (3) means the voluntary consumption of alcohol to the point where the individual’s "ability to drive safely [i]s impaired to a substantial extent” (emphasis supplied) (see, 3 CJI, Vehicle and Traffic Law § 1192, at 2303). Contrary to defendant’s contention, there is no meaningful semantic difference between being so inebriated that one’s…