Woman’s DUI conviction is reversed

WARREN — The 11th District Court of Appeals has reversed a Cortland woman’s DUI conviction on the grounds a Liberty police officer didn’t have sufficient evidence to make a traffic stop of her vehicle three years ago.

In the opinion, Justice Colleen M. O’Toole, said the DUI charge against Jodirae B. Brown of Diamond Way should be returned to Girard Municipal Court for proceedings consistent with the opinion.

The ruling said Officer George Bednar did not have sufficient cause to make a traffic stop on Brown, even though her driving was “somewhat erratic” as she headed south on Belmont Avenue after leaving Motor Inn Drive at about 2 a.m. March 7, 2004.

The ruling says the officer justified stopping Brown for a marked-lanes violation. During cross-examination at a suppression hearing held in Girard Municipal Court, however, he admitted that Brown’s vehicle stayed entirely in one lane.

“In this case, the record does not reveal any [indication] of erratic driving behind some modest weaving by Mrs. Brown in her own lane of traffic,” the ruling says.