Post by backdoorit on Dec 17, 2013 16:12:38 GMT -5
Judge dismisses top charges against driver after crash that killed cop
A judge on Tuesday dismissed the top criminal counts against a defendant whom prosecutors had charged with causing a Nassau police officer's death in a Long Island Expressway crash after driving drunk.
Nassau County Judge Jerald Carter's ruling means James Ryan, 26, of Oakdale, no longer faces charges related to the death of Officer Joseph Olivieri Jr. on Oct. 18, 2012.
A grand jury indictment from April had charged Ryan with 14 criminal counts, including aggravated vehicular homicide, second-degree manslaughter and second-degree vehicular manslaughter. The top count he now faces is assault.
The district attorney's office had alleged Ryan was driving drunk when he struck a car on the LIE, was rear-ended by another car, and then stopped. When Olivieri came to help Ryan, a sport utility vehicle hit and killed the officer, according to authorities.
Olivieri was a 13-year member of the Nassau police force, and previously had served with the NYPD. In November, county officials renamed the LIE overpass on New Hyde Park Road in North Hills in the late 43-year-old officer's honor.
Prosecutors had argued in court papers that Ryan's actions forged a link in the chain of events that caused Olivieri's death. The judge disagreed.
Defense attorneys had claimed that the actions of the sport utility vehicle driver who hit the officer caused his death.
Maureen McCormick, the district attorney's vehicular crimes bureau chief, told Carter that the government would consider appealing his decision.
Defense attorney Marc Gann called the ruling a relief for his client.
"I'm not sure they can believe this day has come," he said of Ryan, his mother, and his father, a retired Port Authority police officer.
All three family members left the courthouse without responding to requests for comment.
Nassau Police Benevolent Association president James Carver called the judge's ruling disappointing.
"I hope that the district attorney's office will appeal this decision," he said. "If it wasn't for the actions of the defendant that morning, police Officer Olivieri would be alive this day."
A judge on Tuesday dismissed the top criminal counts against a defendant whom prosecutors had charged with causing a Nassau police officer's death in a Long Island Expressway crash after driving drunk.
Nassau County Judge Jerald Carter's ruling means James Ryan, 26, of Oakdale, no longer faces charges related to the death of Officer Joseph Olivieri Jr. on Oct. 18, 2012.
A grand jury indictment from April had charged Ryan with 14 criminal counts, including aggravated vehicular homicide, second-degree manslaughter and second-degree vehicular manslaughter. The top count he now faces is assault.
The district attorney's office had alleged Ryan was driving drunk when he struck a car on the LIE, was rear-ended by another car, and then stopped. When Olivieri came to help Ryan, a sport utility vehicle hit and killed the officer, according to authorities.
Olivieri was a 13-year member of the Nassau police force, and previously had served with the NYPD. In November, county officials renamed the LIE overpass on New Hyde Park Road in North Hills in the late 43-year-old officer's honor.
Prosecutors had argued in court papers that Ryan's actions forged a link in the chain of events that caused Olivieri's death. The judge disagreed.
Defense attorneys had claimed that the actions of the sport utility vehicle driver who hit the officer caused his death.
Maureen McCormick, the district attorney's vehicular crimes bureau chief, told Carter that the government would consider appealing his decision.
Defense attorney Marc Gann called the ruling a relief for his client.
"I'm not sure they can believe this day has come," he said of Ryan, his mother, and his father, a retired Port Authority police officer.
All three family members left the courthouse without responding to requests for comment.
Nassau Police Benevolent Association president James Carver called the judge's ruling disappointing.
"I hope that the district attorney's office will appeal this decision," he said. "If it wasn't for the actions of the defendant that morning, police Officer Olivieri would be alive this day."
