When one is convicted for Driving While Intoxicated [VTL 1192] in New York, probation is a possibility. As most experienced criminal defense lawyers know, when one is sentenced to probation, the court usually imposes fairly standard probation conditions which are provided to the defendant in writing at the time of sentence. The defendant must sign these conditions in court at the time he or she is sentenced. When the conviction is for DWI, courts often impose “Driving While Intoxicated Probation Conditions” in addition to the standard probation conditions.
The New York State Criminal Procedure Law requires the sentencing court to specify any sentencing conditions and provide the defendant with a written copy of any conditions of probation at the time of sentencing. More specifically, where “the court pronounces a sentence of probation . . . . it must specify as part of the sentence the conditions to be complied with. Where the sentence is one of probation, the defendant must be given a written copy of the conditions at the time sentence is imposed.” CPL § 410.10(1).
The New York State Penal Law also mandates that the sentencing court specify the conditions a probationer must comply with. For example, Penal Law § 65.00(2) states “When a person is sentenced to a period of probation the court shall . . . . specify, in accordance with section 65.10, the conditions to be complied with.” see also Penal Law § 65.10(1)(“The conditions of probation . . . . shall be such as the court, in its discretion, deems reasonably necessary . . .”).