People v. Asaro

998 N.E.2d 810, 21 N.Y.3d 677
CourtNew York Court of Appeals
DecidedOctober 22, 2013
StatusPublished
Cited by36 cases

This text of 998 N.E.2d 810 (People v. Asaro) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering New York Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
People v. Asaro, 998 N.E.2d 810, 21 N.Y.3d 677 (N.Y. 2013).

Opinion

OPINION OF THE COURT

Graffeo, J.

The primary issue before us is whether defendant’s convictions for manslaughter in the second degree and assault in the second degree, each predicated on the mental state of recklessness, are supported by legally sufficient evidence. We conclude that they are and therefore affirm.

In the early morning hours of November 22, 2008, defendant Patrick Asaro was driving his vehicle with four passengers on a rural two-lane road in Orange County. He suddenly stopped his car, revved the engine and quickly accelerated to speeds far in excess of the posted limit of 55 miles per hour. Ignoring an urgent plea from one of his passengers to slow down, he crossed the double yellow line and struck an oncoming car head-on, instantly killing the driver and injuring the passenger in the other vehicle. All four passengers in defendant’s car sustained injuries. As a result, defendant was indicted for manslaughter in the second degree (Penal Law § 125.15 [1]), criminally negligent homicide (Penal Law § 125.10), four counts of assault in the second degree (Penal Law § 120.05 [4]), four counts of assault in the third degree (Penal Law § 120.00 [2], [3]), reckless [681]*681endangerment in the second degree (Penal Law § 120.20), reckless driving (Vehicle and Traffic Law § 1212) and driving while ability impaired (Vehicle and Traffic Law § 1192 [1]).

At trial, Andrew Adamczyk testified that several hours before the accident he held a party at his parents’ house located in the Town of Mount Hope along Guymard Turnpike, a two-lane unlit highway with a speed limit of 55 miles per hour. There was a sharp bend in the road near the home. At one point that evening, he watched defendant’s 2008 Mitsubishi Lancer speed by his house, turn around and enter his driveway. When defendant exited his car, he asked Adamczyk whether he liked the modifications he had made to the exhaust and air intake systems—adjustments designed to make the vehicle louder and faster. In response, Adamczyk admonished defendant not to drive by his house at such a dangerously high rate of speed.

At the party, 10 to 15 guests were drinking vodka and beer. Kyle Ligenzowski testified that he and defendant drank two shots of vodka together and played “beer pong” as teammates. Other partygoers likewise saw defendant drinking vodka and participating in beer pong. Two witnesses testified that defendant appeared to be intoxicated. After defendant had been at the party for a few hours, Ligenzowski told him that two people— Jorge Ortiz and Michael Nazario—needed a lift to the party from the nearby train station in Middletown. Defendant agreed to pick them up and he, Ligenzowski and Therasa Lazaro left the party a little after midnight. After picking up the two individuals, defendant stopped at a gas station to purchase more beer and headed back to the party. Ligenzowski, Ortiz and Nazario each drank beer and smoked marijuana while riding in the back seat. Lazaro was seated in the front passenger seat.

Suddenly, defendant brought his car to a halt in the middle of the road even though there was no reason to stop. He revved the engine, shifted into gear and accelerated quickly. Ligenzowski and Nazario knew that defendant was speeding because they could hear the car loudly accelerating and felt themselves being pushed back into the seat. Ortiz leaned forward to look at the speedometer and saw that the needle was pointing at 130 miles per hour. Ligenzowski testified that he screamed at defendant to slow down but defendant did not respond. Nazario heard Ligenzowski exclaim to defendant to “slow down, we’re about to make the turn.” Ligenzowski’s ominous warning was the last thing anybody in the car could recall before the collision.

[682]*682The physical evidence established that defendant’s vehicle crossed the double yellow line as it approached the curve by Adamczyk’s house and entered the opposite lane of traffic, where it collided head-on into a car driven by Brian Stevens. The impact killed Stevens instantly and seriously injured Lindsey Ernst, who had been in the passenger seat of the car. Meanwhile, Ligenzowski was ejected from defendant’s car, which had careened off the road and rolled over. Ligenzowski, Lazaro, Ortiz and Nazario all sustained serious injuries. The guests at Adamczyk’s party heard the crash, called 911 and came out to help the survivors. When Adamczyk reached defendant, he heard defendant say “I’m sorry, I only had a few.” The crash victims were all taken to a hospital where a blood sample of defendant was drawn at 2:41 a.m.

A forensic toxicologist testified that she conducted tests on defendant’s blood sample for the presence of alcohol and drugs. The test was negative for alcohol but confirmed the presence of delta-9 tetrahydrocannabinol—the active ingredient in marijuana. A confirmatory test of a separate blood sample by another lab, however, did not detect marijuana in the blood. The toxicologist explained that the negative test may have resulted from the breakdown that occurred between the time the sample was taken and the time the confirmatory test was conducted, about a month and a half later. Although the test did not detect alcohol in defendant’s system, the toxicologist explained that the average person can metabolize one drink, or a blood alcohol content (BAG) of .02, in a given hour. As a result, a person could consume alcohol for a period of time, until 11:30 p.m., and register a BAG of .00 by 2:41 a.m.

A state police expert in the field of collision reconstruction examined the crash site, observing yaw marks crossing the double yellow line from the lane in which defendant’s vehicle had been traveling into the lane where Stevens had been driving. He identified skid marks that ran from the point of impact toward the final resting position of defendant’s car. There were no skid marks suggesting that either car had braked prior to the collision. Based on all the evidence at the scene, the expert concluded that defendant had crossed the double yellow line heading into the curve, causing the accident. In addition, he testified that the calculations he performed to estimate the speed of defendant’s car at the point of impact led him to conclude that defendant was driving at a minimum of 94 miles per hour. On cross-examination, he admitted that the handwritten [683]*683notes he had used to make the speed computations were lost while he was on medical leave and he could not replicate the math. As a result of the lost Rosario material, the trial court gave the jury an adverse inference charge.

At the close of the People’s case, defendant moved to dismiss the second-degree manslaughter and second-degree assault counts on the ground that the evidence failed to establish the requisite mental state of recklessness. The trial court denied the motion and the jury convicted defendant of second-degree manslaughter, four counts of second-degree assault, two counts of third-degree assault, second-degree reckless endangerment and reckless driving. The jury acquitted defendant of driving while ability impaired. Defendant was sentenced to an indeterminate term of 3 to 10 years on the manslaughter count to run concurrently with determinate terms of three years on the second-degree assault counts and one year on the remaining counts.

The Appellate Division affirmed (94 AD3d 773 [2d Dept 2012]), and a Judge of this Court granted defendant leave to appeal (19 NY3d 1101 [2012]).

Defendant argues that the evidence was legally insufficient to sustain the second-degree manslaughter and second-degree assault convictions.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
998 N.E.2d 810, 21 N.Y.3d 677, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/people-v-asaro-ny-2013.