Saratoga County public defender admits DWI

PHOTOGRAPHER: Stephen Williams

Saratoga County Public Defender Oscar Schreiber pleaded guilty Friday in Saratoga Springs City Court to a misdemeanor driving while intoxicated charge, reduced from aggravated DWI.

The 58-year-old city resident will pay $1,145 in fines and court costs, had his license suspended for six months and must have an ignition interlock device on his vehicle for the next year, but he is receiving no jail time. It was Schreiber’s first offense, and a jail sentence is seldom given to first-time DWI offenders.

Schreiber, who has been suspended since his March 22 arrest, is expected to return to work as head of the county Public Defender’s Office in Ballston Spa on Monday, said County Administrator Spencer Hellwig III.

“The reality is, I think he learned a valuable lesson,” Hellwig said. “We don’t expect any impact on his job performance.”

Schreiber is earning $124,734 this year, making him among the highest-paid county employees, but Hellwig called his job performance “exceptional.”

The Public Defender’s Office represents poor defendants who can’t afford a lawyer, appearing in both criminal and family courts. As the department head, Schreiber oversees five assistants and appears in court himself.

The Schenectady County District Attorney’s Office handled the case as a special prosecutor, and it was heard by Schenectady City Court Judge Robert W. Hoffman, because of Schreiber’s ties to people in the Saratoga County legal community.

In addition to the fine, license suspension and ignition interlock requirement, Hoffman will require him to attend alcohol education class and a DWI victim impact panel. The ignition interlock system, required by state law of everyone convicted of DWI, will prevent Schreiber’s vehicle from starting if it senses alcohol.

In addition to the $1,145 in court-imposed fines and costs, Schreiber must pay $715 restitution for a neighbor’s damaged light pole, said Stephanie Hughes, the Schenectady County DWI prosecutor who handled the case. She said Schreiber has already completed an alcohol assessment and treatment program, and that was also considered in her office agreeing to the plea.

Hughes said Schreiber received no special treatment. She noted both she and Hoffman were assigned because they didn’t know Schreiber or work with him, to avoid any perception of a conflict of interest.

“This was a first offense, and this is a very typical [plea] offer,” Hughes said.

Schreiber did not return a call requesting comment Friday, and neither did his attorney, Thomas O’Hern of Albany.

Schreiber was arrested following a property damage accident near his home on Kaydeross Park Road. City police received a 911 call about a car hitting a snowbank, then going across a driveway and hitting a light pole. The caller stated he and his daughter were almost hit, according to the police blotter. Schreiber was arrested at his nearby residence.

Schreiber was initially charged with aggravated DWI based on his blood alcohol content. City Court records show it was 0.2 percent, more than twice the level needed to establish drunken driving.

Schreiber told police he had two vodka drinks while having dinner at the Brook Tavern, according to court records, which also stated he asked officers for “a break,” citing his position with the county. He also told police he didn’t remember hitting anything.

Schreiber has been a criminal defense lawyer in the county for three decades and was named the county’s public defender in May 2013. He has worked in the public defender’s office for 24 years.

Hellwig praised Schreiber’s performance since taking over the department, noting that state grants Schreiber has pursued have brought “hundreds of thousands of dollars” to the county for public defense and to pay for a new conflict defender’s office to reduce the use of outside counsel.

“As a department head, he has done an exceptional job,” Hellwig said.

He also said allowing Schreiber to return to work is consistent with how the county has handled such incidents involving county employees in the past.

The public defender’s office handles about 1,900 misdemeanor cases and more than 300 felony or family court cases each year. First Assistant Public Defender Andrew C. Blumenberg has overseen the office while Schreiber was suspended.