Court upholds DWI conviction for man in parked car
The Minnesota Court of Appeals upheld the drunken driving conviction of a Polk County man who was arrested while asleep behind the wheel of a parked car.
The three-judge panel of the court says that it was didn't matter that Daryl Fleck may not have intended to drive, only that he was in physical control of the vehicle and capable of starting it up.
One night in 2007, officers found Fleck sleeping in his car outside his apartment building. He was intoxicated, open beer cans were on the passenger seat and the keys were sitting on the center console.
He was convicted in October 2007 of driving while impaired. Because he had prior offenses, he received a four-year sentence.
Polk County court records indicate Fleck is now 55 and lived in East Grand Forks when he was arrested.
A call to Fleck's public defender, G. Tony Atwal, was not returned Tuesday.
(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
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