Skip to Content
Streetsblog New York City home
Streetsblog New York City home
Log In
Brooklyn

Killer DWI Cop’s Defense: Victim Shouldn’t Have Been Drinking and Walking

andrew_kelly.jpgAndrew Kelly. Photo: Daily News

The lawyer representing Andrew Kelly, the off-duty NYPD officer who last September killed pedestrian Vionique Valnord, then refused to submit to alcohol tests, has indicated that his line of defense will go something like this: The victim precipitated her own death by drinking at a wedding before my client ran her down on a Brooklyn street.

"There was alcohol in her system and witnesses at the wedding said she
was clearly, visibly intoxicated," said attorney Arthur Aidala at a hearing on Tuesday. "This goes to solidify the fact that
this was just a terrible accident."

Kelly himself was reported to be visibly intoxicated after hitting Valnord as she tried to hail a taxi. Yet in today's papers both the Post and Daily News point out that Valnord was legally too drunk to drive. Here's the News:

[Valnord] had a blood alcohol level of .22 - nearly three times the legal limitif she had been driving, according to the toxicology report.

Now the Post:

The minister's daughter run down and killed by an allegedly drunkoff-duty cop last fall was drunk herself, with a blood-alcoholpercentage more than three times the legal DWI limit, sources told ThePost.

The legal limit for driving is .08 percent.

Clearly the Post, at least, is on board with equating DWI and attempting to catch a cab after drinking: The victim's autopsy results, the Post says, "bolster" Kelly's claim that "it was Valnord who was to blame for the accident ... when she raced out into
the street mid-block with no warning."

Trifling as it may be, the fact is Valnord wasn't driving, and Kelly was. Said Valnord's sister Ruth Jean: "What does it matter she had something at a wedding if he's the one driving drunk."

Kelly's defense is not without precedent. Richard Anderson refused a Breathalyzer test after he struck and killed Florence Cioffi
in Manhattan two years ago this month, and was ultimately able to plea down to a sentence of 16 days in jail and 250 hours of community service. According to the News, Cioffi's lawyer suspected prosecutors backed down because Cioffi was intoxicated when she was hit.

Maybe Valnord could have avoided being put on trial herself by evading a blood alcohol analysis long enough to clear her system, as Kelly allegedly did. If only Kelly hadn't killed her first.

Stay in touch

Sign up for our free newsletter

More from Streetsblog New York City

‘Preventable’: Hit-and-Run Driver Kills Two on Third. Ave Corridor Eric Adams Refuses to Make Safer

A motorist struck and killed two men on a strip where Mayor Adams recently shelved a safety redesign amid a backlash from local business interests.

July 11, 2025

Why No BRT For NYC? Two New Reports Tackle Why Your Bus Service Sucks

Years of bus priority projects barely made a dent in speeds because Big Apple leaders won't install real bus rapid transit, two recent reports argue.

July 11, 2025

Citi Bike Riders Are Pissed About Eric Adams’s 15 MPH Speed Limit

Citi Bike's new 15 mph max speed limit is a bad deal for riders and a potential threat to safety, riders said.

July 11, 2025

Friday Video: Cyclists, Check Out Your Next City

Streetfilms' Clarence Eckerson visited London earlier this summer to check in on the Big Smoke's cycling revolution.

July 11, 2025

Friday’s Headlines: Just the News Edition

We've got one more workday before we can hit the beach. Plus the news.

July 11, 2025

Council To Close Instacart Loophole, Pass Delivery Industry Regulation Bills

The City Council will vote on Monday to close the "Instacart loophole" and force all app companies to pay workers a minimum wage.

July 10, 2025
See all posts