Menands

Albany Police Officer Brian Lutz will be $760 poorer and lose his right to drive for three months.

But for the second time since 2001, he has beaten a drunk driving charge.

A village judge on Thursday found Lutz not guilty of DWI, but guilty of driving while ability impaired — a violation akin to a traffic ticket.

Village Justice Lisa Anne Proskin rendered the verdict in the officer's nonjury trial, ending a nearly three-year legal case that began when a village officer found Lutz in his SUV parked on Interstate 787.

Lutz was cleared of misdemeanor driving while intoxicated.

Proskin sentenced Lutz to a victim impact panel in January in Guilderland and suspended his license for 90 days. That suspension may not start for 20 days.

Lutz must pay the maximum $500 fine and a surcharge, bringing his total to $760.

When asked if he wanted to speak, Lutz said, "No, your honor, thank you."

Lutz remains suspended with pay from his job, where an arbitrator will decide administrative charges against him for the incident.

On the morning of his Dec. 11, 2010 arrest, Lutz refused an alcohol test in the Menands police station, where he was captured on video surveillance berating Menands police, including Officer Thomas Johnson, the Menands cop who pulled him over and who Lutz has known for more than 20 years.

Lutz also admitted during his testimony that he told internal affairs investigators he was under the influence of alcohol at the time.

He testified he drank five Coors lights and half shot of alcohol. His defense was that he experienced a seizure and was on pain medication, but was not drunk.

His attorney, David Brickman, called the verdict a "fair result."

Assistant District Attorney Mary Tanner-Richter told reporters the case had "overwhelming evidence" for a DWI conviction.

"In my years of doing this job, I don't think I've ever seen more proof in a DWI where you don't have a chemical test," she said.

Before rendering the verdict. Proskin said she had reviewed all the proof, including the video of Lutz in the booking room.

"After a considerable review of the evidence before the court, I found the people have not proven this matter beyond a reasonable doubt and I have found the defendant not guilty of DWI," Proskin said from the bench. "On the second count ... I have found that the people have proven this matter beyond a reasonable doubt and I find the defendant guilty of DWAI."

She also found Lutz guilty of parking on a public highway.

When asked by reporters if she believed the proof was not there, Proskin said, "I can't answer that. The proof was not beyond a reasonable doubt."

Tanner-Richter had requested a sentence of 15 days in the Albany County jail and that an interlock ignition device be installed in Lutz's car because of his conviction and a prior DWI arrest. In 1999, police said he nearly struck a state trooper on bike patrol by the Corning Preserve.

In 2001, Lutz pleaded guilty to driving while ability impaired.

Tanner-Richter told the judge Lutz posed a danger to the community because of the "overwhelming egregious, facts of this particular case as well as the defendant's history."

Proskin said: "I am not of the belief that anyone should be punished harder or penalized for having a trial and because of that I will not be sentencing you to jail."

Being acquitted at trial, however, will not aid Lutz in his case at work.

In a statement, Albany Police Chief Steve Krokoff said the verdict "should have no effect on the outcome of the administrative action taken by this department. "The facts and circumstances of the administrative case have not changed," Krokoff stated. "I am confident that the overwhelming amount and quality of evidence presented before the arbitrator will result in a decision that will affirm the faith that the public has in the Albany Police Department."

rgavin@timesunion.com • 518-434-2403 • @RobertGavinTU