IN THIS CASE INVOLVING A FATAL CAR ACCIDENT WHEN DEFENDANT WAS APPARENTLY “RACING” THE OTHER DRIVER, THE EVIDENCE PRESENTED TO THE GRAND JURY WAS LEGALLY SUFFICIENT TO SUPPORT THE MANSLAUGHTER SECOND DEGREE CHARGE; THE INDICTMENT SHOULD NOT HAVE BEEN DISMISSED (SECOND DEPT).

The Second Department, reversing County Court’s dismissal of the indictment, determined the evidence of manslaughter second degree presented to the grand jury was legally sufficient:

… [V]iewing the evidence in the light most favorable to the People, we find that it was legally sufficient to support the charges of manslaughter in the second degree … . The evidence before the grand jury, if accepted as true, established that in addition to traveling at the excessive rate of speed of approximately 80 to 90 miles per hour, the defendant’s vehicle and the Porsche were weaving in and out of traffic, without braking or signaling. As the Porsche and the defendant’s vehicle approached a sharp bend in the roadway, they were traveling side-by-side, with the Porsche in the left lane. The defendant’s vehicle struck the Porsche while attempting to enter the left lane, which caused the Porsche to hit the left hand curb of the roadway and fly “at least a couple of hundred feet” in the air before coming to rest “at the bottom of the highway.” Two passengers riding in the Porsche were killed. Although the defendant told a police sergeant at the scene that he did not see the Porsche when he attempted to maneuver his vehicle into the left lane and believed that the Porsche was in his blind spot, he also stated that he was “kind of racing” with the Porsche … . People v Castro, 2022 NY Slip Op 00874, Second Dept 2-9-22