POUGHKEEPSIE – The Appellate Division of State Supreme has modified the sentence of a Stamford, Connecticut man who pled guilty in Dutchess County Court to vehicular manslaughter in connection with the death of a Culinary Institute of America student on December 7, 2018.
Emily Wooton, 20, of Vermont, died in the crash on Route 9G in Rhinebeck.
Robert Dancy was convicted on August 8, 2019 to 3 ½ to 10 ½ years in state prison and directed him to install an ignition interlock device on any vehicle he has access to for three years.
Dancy challenged the interlock device sentence on the basis of state law that requires that in the case of an alcohol-related violation, a condition of probation or conditional discharge must be imposed.
In a June 15, 2022 decision, the appellate court wrote, “Accordingly, the ignition interlock device directive must be vacated and the matter must be remitted to the County Court, Dutchess County, for resentencing to impose upon the defendant a conditional discharge and to require that he install and maintain an ignition interlock device for a period of three years following his release from prison.”
