Court Rejects Gibbstown Man's Appeal of Deptford DWI

A Gibbstown man with a history of drunk-driving violations lost his second appeal on a drunk-driving conviction Wednesday, when a state appeals court rejected his assertion he wasn't the driver in the 2009 crash that led to his arrest.

Desmond M. Clayton, 31, claimed he wasn't behind the wheel when his car crashed into another car in Deptford, despite the fact police found him on foot not far from the site of the crash, with his car keys in his pocket.

He also argued if he had been the driver, he wasn't drunk when the crash occurred, even though police said his blood-alcohol level tested at .18, well above the legal limit, a short time later.

In an appeal brief, Assistant Gloucester County Prosecutor Margaret Cipparrone said there was various circumstantial evidence to support the original conviction, including the smell of alcohol around Clayton at the time of the crash.

“His eyes were bloodshot and watery. He had possession of his car keys,” she wrote.

The appeals court agreed, and supported both the original municipal court conviction and the subsequent appeal, which was rejected by Superior Court Judge Walter L. Marshall Jr.

The original conviction netted Clayton a six-month jail sentence and a 10-year driver’s license suspension because of prior drunk-driving convictions.