PLATTSBURGH — Charles Peryea’s manslaughter conviction for the 2006 death of a Malone teen has been upheld.

The 53-year-old Ellenburg Depot man was found guilty of second-degree manslaughter and second-degree vehicular manslaughter in the death of Brandon Dunlavey.

Following a trial in Clinton County Court, the jury also convicted him of third-degree assault, second-degree vehicular assault, second-degree assault, two counts of driving-while-intoxicated and failing to keep right.

Peryea was sentenced to five to 15 years in prison for driving drunk and crashing head-on into a car driven by Alicia Reynolds.

Dunlavey, a passenger in her car, was killed in the crash.

Reynolds, then 18, of Malone, suffered multiple injuries in the accident, as did another passenger, John Nichols, then 17, of North Bangor, who was left with a traumatic brain injury.

Trial evidence showed Peryea, who has a past drunken-driving record, had consumed a number of drinks April 4, 2006, before he crossed the center line at a high rate of speed and slammed into Reynolds’s car.

Peryea had appealed based on several areas of contention, including that his chemical-blood test shouldn’t have been admitted into evidence.

The court found the test was properly administered and admitted.

Peryea also questioned the sufficiency of trial evidence, but the State of New York Third Appellate Division Supreme Court has ruled that his convictions “are supported by legally sufficient evidence.”

The Appellate Court also found that Peryea’s assertion that Reynolds was partially responsible for the accident was “unpersuasive,” adding that “the evidence does not establish any fault on the part of the other driver.”

The justices also ruled that his sentence was not excessive, but they did dismiss the two DWI counts, since they were lesser inclusive charges of the felony vehicular manslaughter.

The dismissals did not affect Peryea’s concurrent sentence, which will be followed by three years of post-release supervision.

Peryea, who was employed at Bare Hill Correctional Facility at the time of the crash, is serving his sentence at Midstate Correctional Facility in Oneida County.

He will be eligible for parole in August 2011.

Dunlavey’s death affected many in his hometown and prompted a continued wave of awareness efforts across the tri-county area advocating against drunken driving.

At the time of his death, the 18-year-old was an all-star athlete only weeks shy of graduating from Franklin Academy.



E-mail Andrea VanValkenburg at:

avanvalkenburg@pressrepublican.com