Appeals court upholds OWI conviction of man who claimed he wasn’t driving drunk in Prairie du Chien

A Wisconsin appeals court has upheld the drunk-driving conviction of a South Dakota man arrested after an apparent motorcycle crash in Prairie du Chien. 

In May of 2018, Prairie du Chien police found a cycle tipped over, pointed in the wrong direction on a one-way street, and a man lying on the grass nearby, looking at a cell phone. 

The man, Brandon Mulvenna, denied that he had been driving the cycle, but had actually walked from downtown to the scene of the crash. 

Mulvenna had a blood alcohol level of .21, and claimed his arrest was illegal because police couldn’t prove he had been driving. 

The appeals court says the motorcycle was registered to Mulvenna, and police had enough evidence to believe that he was driving when the bike overturned.

The case is being sent back to Crawford County court for further action.