PEOPLE v. EALEY (2019)

Defendant is charged by simplified traffic information with driving a vehicle with excessively tinted side windows in violation of VTL § 375[12-a][b][2].

A trial was held in this matter on July 8, 2019. Westchester County Police Officer Evan Spreckman testified that on March 18, 2019 at 11:33 am he observed the defendant driving a vehicle with tinted side windows on the Hutchinson River Parkway southbound in the vicinity of the Hutchinson Boulevard exit ramp. Officer Spreckman pulled the defendant over and issued him a ticket for excessively tinted side windows in violation of VTL § 375[12-a][b][2].

Officer Spreckman testified that the side windows of the defendant's vehicle were tinted and that he believed they were tinted such that less than 70% of light is able to transmit through the windows.

Defendant testified that although his vehicle has tinted windows, they are not excessively tinted to the degree of allowing less than 70% of light through. He argues that the ticket should be dismissed because the police officer failed to prove that his tinted windows prevented the requisite amount of light transmission through them.

Vehicle and Traffic Law § 375[12-a][b] provides in pertinent part:

No person shall operate any motor vehicle upon any public highway, road or street:

[2] the sidewings or side windows of which on either side forward of oradjacent to the operator's seat are composed of, covered by or treated with any material which has a light transmittance of less than seventy percent;

In a prosecution for driving with excessively tinted windows pursuant to VTL § 375[12-a][b] a police officer's testimony that he estimates that a vehicle's windows tint exceeds that permitted by law is legally insufficient to establish a defendant's guilt beyond reasonable doubt where the police officer fails to demonstrate that he possessed any experience in visually determining the amount of light transmitted through a window or some other satisfactory reason or basis, such as a "tint-meter" to substantiate his opinion. People v. Tompkins, 6 Misc 3d 30 (App Term 2d Dept 2004). As such, the prosecution bears the burden of proving that a vehicle's windows are excessively tinted in violation of VTL § 375[12-a][b]. See id.

The Court finds that the prosecution failed to establish beyond a reasonable doubt that the side windows on defendant's vehicle were excessively tinted in violation of VTL § 375[12-a][b]. The uncorroborated testimony of Police Officer Spreckman as to his belief that defendant's vehicle's side windows were tinted more than permissibly allowed by law is insufficient to establish defendant's guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.

Simplified Traffic Information dismissed.

This constitutes the Decision and Order of this Court.

Adam Seiden, J.