Given my line of work I've actually seen much worse I'm afraid.
A couple of years ago, a man got convicted of Murder for hitting a Honda while the Honda was pulling into a gas station as the man was racing his Benz at speeds above 100 mph. Drive responsibly. You may be held responsible. Here's a news article about it.
Daily News (New York)
June 22, 2001
HEADLINE: DRIVER IS GUILTY OF MURDER High-speed crash in Brooklyn
A Brooklyn driver was convicted yesterday of second-degree murder for slamming his Mercedes-Benz into a Honda at more than 100 mph on the Belt Parkway, killing two people in the fiery collision.
The decision by the eight-woman, four-man Brooklyn Supreme Court jury marked the first time in state history that a sober driver had been convicted of murder for killing people in a crash, prosecutors said.
Jon Paul Lazartes, 21, of Marine Park, faces up to 25 years to life in prison at sentencing.
Lazartes, who had been free until yesterday, showed no emotion when the jury foreman read a verdict, convicting him of depraved indifference. Guards took himout in handcuffs.
His girlfriend and parents burst into tears, as did the relatives of Yvonne Rodriguez, 20, and Michael Lebel, 23, who were crushed beyond recognition Jan. 16, 2000, when Lazartes' 4,500-pound 1995 Mercedes smashed into the Honda Prelude they were in as it entered the Mobil gas station lot near the Flatbush
exit about 4 a.m.
"He got what he deserved," said Robert Martinez, Lebel's cousin.
"It was worth the wait," said Norma Viera, Rodriguez's aunt, as she comforted Rodriguez's sobbing mother after a three-week trial and three days of deliberations.
Defense lawyer Felix Gilroy vowed to appeal. Lazartes had contended that Honda driver Michael Mateo, under the influence of cocaine and marijuana, had caused the crash by cutting across the highway to get to the gas station.
But jurors convicted Lazartes of flying down the Belt Parkway in a high-speed cat-and-mouse game with another Mercedes, indifferent to the lives he put at risk, as he unexpectedly came upon the Honda.
A prosecution crash expert said the Honda was smashed so hard that the impact was as though it had plummeted from a 10-story building.
Jurors said they couldn't avoid the feeling that any of them could have been on the road that night, struck by Lazartes' "4,500-pound torpedo," in the words
of Assistant District Attorney Maureen McCormick.
"He made choices," said juror Beverly Dinkins. "There's no doubt in my mind, had that Mercedes-Benz not spun out of control and caught on fire, he'd still be racing. "
A couple of years ago, a man got convicted of Murder for hitting a Honda while the Honda was pulling into a gas station as the man was racing his Benz at speeds above 100 mph. Drive responsibly. You may be held responsible. Here's a news article about it.
Daily News (New York)
June 22, 2001
HEADLINE: DRIVER IS GUILTY OF MURDER High-speed crash in Brooklyn
A Brooklyn driver was convicted yesterday of second-degree murder for slamming his Mercedes-Benz into a Honda at more than 100 mph on the Belt Parkway, killing two people in the fiery collision.
The decision by the eight-woman, four-man Brooklyn Supreme Court jury marked the first time in state history that a sober driver had been convicted of murder for killing people in a crash, prosecutors said.
Jon Paul Lazartes, 21, of Marine Park, faces up to 25 years to life in prison at sentencing.
Lazartes, who had been free until yesterday, showed no emotion when the jury foreman read a verdict, convicting him of depraved indifference. Guards took himout in handcuffs.
His girlfriend and parents burst into tears, as did the relatives of Yvonne Rodriguez, 20, and Michael Lebel, 23, who were crushed beyond recognition Jan. 16, 2000, when Lazartes' 4,500-pound 1995 Mercedes smashed into the Honda Prelude they were in as it entered the Mobil gas station lot near the Flatbush
exit about 4 a.m.
"He got what he deserved," said Robert Martinez, Lebel's cousin.
"It was worth the wait," said Norma Viera, Rodriguez's aunt, as she comforted Rodriguez's sobbing mother after a three-week trial and three days of deliberations.
Defense lawyer Felix Gilroy vowed to appeal. Lazartes had contended that Honda driver Michael Mateo, under the influence of cocaine and marijuana, had caused the crash by cutting across the highway to get to the gas station.
But jurors convicted Lazartes of flying down the Belt Parkway in a high-speed cat-and-mouse game with another Mercedes, indifferent to the lives he put at risk, as he unexpectedly came upon the Honda.
A prosecution crash expert said the Honda was smashed so hard that the impact was as though it had plummeted from a 10-story building.
Jurors said they couldn't avoid the feeling that any of them could have been on the road that night, struck by Lazartes' "4,500-pound torpedo," in the words
of Assistant District Attorney Maureen McCormick.
"He made choices," said juror Beverly Dinkins. "There's no doubt in my mind, had that Mercedes-Benz not spun out of control and caught on fire, he'd still be racing. "
