Manslaughter, Vehicular Homicide Charges Dismissed Prior To Trial

Our client was Indicted and charged with Manslaughter in the Second Degree, Criminally Negligent Homicide, Vehicular Homicide in the Second Degree, Assault and Driving While Intoxicated. It was alleged that in the early morning hours of September 3^rd, 2017 in the vicinity of Eastern Parkway and Troy Avenue in Kings County, the Defendant drove a vehicle in an Intoxicated condition and hit a pedestrian who was injured and died approximately three weeks later as result of complications. Our client, 65 years old, a New York City employee who has never been arrested, was devastated by the accident. However, what became apparent to Criminal Defense attorney Todd Greenberg is that there was no causal connection between the Defendant’s alleged Intoxication and the death. New York’s Penal Law is extremely harsh, and rightfully so, that when a death occurs and the driver is Intoxicated, there is a rebuttable presumption in the Statute that the death was due and caused by the driver’s Intoxication! After reviewing all the documentation that was obtained in the course of two (2) years, and after hiring an Accident Reconstruction Expert, it became clear that this accident could not be avoided! The pedestrian, who himself was intoxicated, was crossing in the middle of the street on a stormy night and Mr. Greenberg established that there was not enough time for any human being to react, whether drinking or not drinking! On the day of Jury selection, Mr. Greenberg was adamant that the District Attorney could not establish causation. On the next day, the District Attorney offered to dismiss all charges except Driving While Intoxicated which our client accepted. Although Mr. Greenberg’s client was facing fifteen (15) years in jail if convicted, the case ended with a plea to Driving While Intoxicated and Probation. Mr. Greenberg’s knowledge of the Law in this area, and his experience in numerous trials involving these issues, once again enabled Mr. Greenberg to help a client who was innocent of Manslaughter, Criminally Negligent Homicide and Vehicular Homicide.