GUILDERLAND — Patrick Haggerty, 31, of 11 South Church St., Schenectady, was found guilty on April 7, following a jury trial in Guilderland Town Court, of aggravated driving while intoxicated and driving while intoxicated, both misdemeanors, according to a release from the Albany County District Attorney’s Office. The judge in the case was John Bailey.

On March 2, at about 1:32 a.m., Haggerty was stopped by Guilderland Police for driving erratically.  According to his Guilderland Police arrest report, he was seen weaving in the right lane of Western Avenue in the vicinity of Alvina Boulevard and was stopped when both passenger tires went well over the white fog line.

He displayed signs of intoxication and failed multiple field sobriety tests, and after he was arrested, a breathalyzer test was performed and showed Haggerty to have a blood alcohol content of .18, according to both the release and the arrest report.

Haggerty will be sentenced on June 8, and faces up to one year in Albany County’s jail, or three years of probation; he will also be ordered to pay a fine of between $1,000 and $2,500 and will have an ignition interlock device installed for one year, have his license revoked for a minimum of one year to be determined by the Department of Motor Vehicles, and attend a victim impact panel and an impaired driver program.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney Shanza Malik. Haggerty’s attorney, Brian J. Toal, did not return calls from The Enterprise.

According to his arrest report, Haggerty was also initially charged with operating a motor vehicle with a blood-alcohol content of .08 or more. Spokeswoman Cecilia Walsh of the district attorney’s office said that this was a lesser charge and that it was canceled out once he was convicted on the more serious top count.

Guilderland Town Court Clerk  to the Justices Jennifer Stephens said that misdemeanor jury trials in the town court for drunk driving are not rare; she listed three that were scheduled within the next month.

Walsh wrote in an email to The Enterprise, “Certainly an accused defendant can exercise his or her rights to choose either a jury trial or a bench trial. The People must meet their burden of proving the charged elements beyond a reasonable doubt in either scenario. In this case we prevailed and a jury convicted on all counts presented to them.”