New Hampshire fatal crash

blitz11

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However, Zhukovskyy’s defense attorney, Jay Duguay, reportedly pointed out witnesses’ conflicting statements and also argued that evidence from the crash site showed that lead rider Mazza was intoxicated and lost control of his motorcycle, sliding into the path of Zhukovskyy’s truck before the other riders were struck. Zhukovskyy was not injured. Still, the outcome of the trial was surprising to some following the trial, following Zhukovskyy’s admission of guilt at the scene. “He was crystal clear from the very beginning that he caused this crash,” prosecutor Scott Chase said. “That is what he said, because that is what happened.”

I hadn't heard about an intoxicated rider before this. Not good.
 

RCinNC

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I'd known about the intoxicated motorcycle rider; what I haven't seen in any of the news reports of the trial was why the judge dismissed the DUI charges against Zhukovskyy prior to hearing the case for the homicide by vehicle charges. Those charges exist separately from the homicide charges; you can be convicted of DUI and still be acquitted of Homicide by Vehicle. Zhukovskyy admitted to snorting two bags of a heroin/fentanyl mixture and a half gram of cocaine at around 8AM on the day of the crash. I'm sure that his blood was drawn after the crash. A witness reported him weaving on the road immediately prior to the crash (which is a court recognized sign of impairment). Yet the judge dismissed the simple DUI counts (presumably based on a defense motion) before trial.

There's nothing in any of the reports I've read why this dismissal happened, and that's the most perplexing thing. The jury believed the defense's version of the homicide by vehicle case over the prosecution's, and that happens, but the jury (as far as I can tell) never deliberated on the simple DUI charges; the judge just tossed them. That struck me as odd, absent any additional information.
 
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Sierra1

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To me, the only way for that is: 1) They never charged him with the misdemeanor, puting all of their eggs in the felony basket. 2) Somebody royally screwed up the questioning, evidence or chain of custody in the DUI portion. I've seen both.
 

RCinNC

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I don't see that as the case here, Sierra. New Hampshire has a sliding scale for DUI grades of crimes, from a Class B misdemeanor for a first offense up to felonies for Aggravated DUI, second and subsequent DUI, etc. There may not have been an applicable misdemeanor to charge, if this wasn't his first offense or if he was charged with some form of felony aggravated DUI because of the nature of the crash. In any event though, he was charged with DUI and not just the felony Homicide by Vehicle while DUI, so there were lesser included offenses. It wasn't the prosecutor that dropped the lesser included offenses in order to focus on the major felonies; it was the judge that dismissed those lesser charges.

If this had been an issue of evidence mishandling, or Miranda, then those issues would have been decided during whatever pretrial proceedings were held. The prosecution would have known going into trial whether of not they were going to be able to use the defendant's admissions, the toxicology results, etc. Now, I don't know New Hampshire's rules of criminal procedure, but a judge where I'm from would never entertain any motions to suppress that were made when a trial actually started and a jury had been seated. And this wasn't even an issue where the judge ordered that particular items of evidence be suppressed; he simply dismissed the charges.

This might be normal in New Hampshire, and there are reasons for it, but from my experience at criminal trials, a judge actually dismissing charges like in this case (and not simply making a ruling based on whatever their Exclusionary Rule is) is not something I ever encountered.
 

Sierra1

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Politics? Nothing else makes sense to me. Even with the bikers being intoxicated, I just can't see a verdict of "offsetting penalties, re-do down". That's not justice. And if the driver made the res gestae statement of guilt . . . . I just don't understand. Maybe it's a "Live Free or Die" thing. I don't see it happening in Texas. Or, at least wouldn't have. The world is a changin'.
 

Fennellg

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This is mind blowing. His level was .16 and should be about ten beers. If he could hold his alcohol he could operate a bike. Not with out risk but it could be done.
 
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Sierra1

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This is mind blowing. Anyone now how many beers his level equates to?
Depends on body weight/composition. At 300lbs it would take about a 6-pack in an hour to hit the legal limit. That being said, if I drank that much . . . . in that amount of time . . . . I'd be puking. But a "pro-drinker" (alcoholic) can function well at .12-.15. I was a test dummy once and got to .08. I thought I was .15. I would never even consider getting in a car, let alone ride a bike at that level. But I'm just an amateur.
 

RCinNC

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Politics? Nothing else makes sense to me. Even with the bikers being intoxicated, I just can't see a verdict of "offsetting penalties, re-do down". That's not justice. And if the driver made the res gestae statement of guilt . . . . I just don't understand. Maybe it's a "Live Free or Die" thing. I don't see it happening in Texas. Or, at least wouldn't have. The world is a changin'.
Don't know. Politically, I don't see whose political interests are served by exonerating a foreign national with a history of drug use. And I can understand the verdict in so far as the defense had their own expert reconstructionist that testified that it was the biker's actions which initiated the crash, and apparently they presented a more convincing case than the prosecution. So be it. I'm just perplexed why a judge would dismiss charges against the defendant that should have been a jury issue.
 

Madhatter

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there is a lot of non prosecution of bad actors by DA's around the nation , so why not judges? the sad thing is that this guy will probably hurt others again .
 

Fennellg

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I believe from reading the account the lead bike crashed or caused the accident. Both parties were impaired. So if you take the drugs and alcohol out of the figuring the jury concluded the truck driver passes go. The jury got there in 3 hours.
 
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