Personal Injury Law

Westchester County DWI--First Person Convicted Under New Vehicular Manslaughter Law

By Mark Siesel, Esq.

In a Westchester County DWI case, this week Shaheed Emery became the first person convicted in Westchester County under the new First Degree Vehicular Manslaughter charge, as the result of a fatal New York drunk driving crash on the Sprain Brook Parkway last year. Mr. Emery pleaded guilty to the charges of Vehicular Manslaughter, a felony, felony charges of aggravated DWI and DWI with a previous conviction, and a misdemeanor DWI charge related to an August 24, 2007 accident which killed his friend Jamiel Neal of White Plains and caused Mr. Emery to break his leg.

On that date, Mr. Emery lost control of his 1999 BMW and crashed into a guardrail on the Sprain Brook Parkway near Jackson Avenue, casuing the car to flip over and land on the other side of the parkway. Mr. Neal died of blunt force trauma to the head. In exchange for his guilty plea to all charges, Mr. Emery will serve 4-8 years in state prison, according to the Westchester District Attorney's Office.

Full post as published by New York Legal Blog on March 25, 2008 (boomark / email).