IPSWICH, Mass. -- A driving instructor accused of being drunk while teaching a lesson in Ipswich pleaded not guilty on Thursday.

Driving Teacher Charged With DUI

Essex District Attorney's Office said Daniel Winsky, 52, of Salem, was under the influence of liquor while teaching two students to drive on Dec. 26, 2007.

A portable Breathalyzer test administered after the car was stopped by police showed Winsky had a blood-alcohol level of .223, nearly three times the Massachusetts legal limit of .08, police said. But those results are not admissible in court. Since police did not arrest Winsky immediately, they did not offer him a formal Breathalyzer test at the station.

"He is not guilty. He did nothing wrong and we will be taking this to trial," defense attorney John Morris said.

Police stopped the vehicle on High Street after a clerk at Cumberland Farms and a customer called them saying the man smelled of alcohol. The clerk's sister was killed by a drunken driver in 2003; and the customer's fiancé was killed by a drunken driver, according to police reports.

Students in the car said Winsky didn't appear to be intoxicated, but was sipping a bottle of cough medicine, court documents said.

"I think it is more mouthwash than the Robitussen. They didn't arrest him at the scene. He did perform some field sobriety tests. The ones he did perform, he passed -- all but the portable Breathalyzer," Morris said.

Winsky wasn't driving the car, but driving instructors have a brake on the passenger side.

"Mr. Winsky had reached over to the driver's side and helped the young person who was operating the car as part of the driver's ed instruction, pulled to the side of the road, so, therefore, exerting control over the motor vehicle," said prosecutor Kate Hartigan.

Winsky pleaded not guilty in Ipswich District Court in Newburyport on a drunken driving charge and was released on personal recognizance. Winsky will return to court on April 24.

Since he did not refuse a Breathalyzer test, Winsky is still allowed to drive while the case is pending, but cannot teach driving lessons.