LIVINGSTON COUNTY — A Livonia man who was facing a potential lengthy sentence under Leandra’s Law, which provides for stiff DWI penalties, was acquitted and found not guilty of nearly all charges by a Livingston County jury.
Samuel Ingallina, 43, was found not guilty on the charges of Aggravated Driving While Intoxicated, 2 counts of Endangering the Welfare of a Child, and Driving While Intoxicated with a Child Under 17 years of age. He was found guilty of Operating an Uninspected Motor Vehicle.
“The key was we conducted a diligent and thorough investigation that allowed us to show the jury an alternative timeline that suggests he was not drinking prior to driving the vehicle,” said Ingallina’s lawyer, Kevin Van Allen from the law firm of Cannon and Van Allen. “The jury liked our timeline better than the District Attorney’s, but there is no exact science to predicting how a jury is going to rule.”
According to the timeline presented during the defense, Ingallina had taken his girlfriends’ teenage daughter and her friend to Verizon to get a cell phone. They got in a verbal argument on the way home, and then upon his return to the house Ingallina started drinking and the teenager called police. In the prosecution’s version of events, however, Ingallina had been drinking before going to Verizon.
If found guilty Ingallina would have faced a potential sentence of up to 7 years in State Prison.