CONCORD, N.H. — A business truck driver who was acquitted of inflicting the deaths of seven motorcyclists in New Hampshire testified at a listening to Wednesday on his request to reinstate his suspended license, whereas a lawyer for the state stated he nonetheless performed a task within the 2019 crash.
A jury in 2022 discovered Volodymyr Zhukovskyy not responsible of a number of manslaughter and negligent murder counts stemming from the collision in Randolph that killed seven members of the Jarheads Bike Membership, a corporation of Marine Corps veterans and their spouses in New England.
Zhukovskyy, who got here to the U.S. as a baby from Ukraine and had everlasting residency standing, had his Massachusetts license routinely suspended in New Hampshire after his arrest following the June 21, 2019, crash.
Primarily based on his interviews with police on the time, “I believed I used to be the one which prompted the accident,” Zhukovskyy, 28, testified at a four-hour administrative listening to in Harmony during which he appeared by way of video. “I used to be like in a bubble with all of the strain.”
Prosecutors argued that Zhukovskyy — who had taken heroin, fentanyl and cocaine the day of the crash — repeatedly swerved backwards and forwards earlier than the collision and informed police he prompted it. However a choose dismissed eight impairment expenses and his attorneys stated the lead biker was drunk and never trying the place he was going when he misplaced management of his motorbike and slid in entrance of Zhukovskyy’s truck, which was pulling an empty flatbed trailer.
Zhukovskyy’s trial attorneys additionally stated there was no proof he was impaired on the time of the crash and that police didn’t make any observations within the hours afterward suggesting he was.
Restoration of Zhukovskky’s license would depend upon whether or not hearings officer Ryan McFarland decides Zhukovskyy drove “in an illegal and reckless method” that “materially contributed” to the accident, based on state legislation. McFarland took the case below advisement after the listening to. If he finds in favor of the state, Zhukovskyy’s license might stay suspended for as much as seven years.
One former Jarheads member injured within the crash spoke out in opposition to restoring the license.
“You are all in jeopardy of this man driving once more,” stated Manny Ribeiro, talking with reporters after Wednesday’s listening to. “I do know what occurred that day. I used to be there.”
The manslaughter acquittal on the time drew sturdy feedback from Gov. Chris Sununu, who stated the seven bikers “didn’t obtain justice,” and from Lawyer Normal John Formella, who stated he believed the state proved its case.
Zhukovskyy stated at Wednesday’s listening to he was driving round a crest on an east-west freeway, noticed a motorbike coming in his route, and utilized his brakes.
“He responded in seconds,” his lawyer Earle Wingate III, stated. “He didn’t trigger the crash.”
However David Hilts, an lawyer for the state Division of Security, challenged that account, primarily based on knowledgeable stories. He stated descriptions of the place the tires have been on the time confirmed Zhukovskyy did not see the motorbike prematurely.
“The affect occurred. He jams on his breaks,” Hilts stated.
Hilts questioned Zhukovskyy extensively about his drug use primarily based on the police interviews. The lawyer stated in his closing assertion that Zhukovskyy did every thing attainable to not reply his questions on drug use and impairment.
Hilts additionally introduced up prior accidents Zhukovskyy was concerned in, together with one 18 days earlier than the Randolph crash. He stated each Zhukovskyy and the lead biker, Albert “Woody” Mazza Jr., materially contributed to the crash. Mazza, one of many seven who died, had a blood-alcohol stage of 0.135%, effectively above the authorized restrict of 0.08%, based on his post-mortem report.
On the time, Zhukovskyy’s license ought to have been revoked as a result of he had been arrested in Connecticut on a drunken driving cost in Could 2019. Connecticut officers alerted the Massachusetts Registry of Motor Automobiles, however Zhukovskyy’s license wasn’t suspended on account of a backlog of out-of-state notifications about driving offenses. The Connecticut case is pending.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement detained Zhukovskyy after the 2022 verdict, citing earlier convictions of drug possession, driving with a suspended license, furnishing false data and larceny. Zhukovskyy was taken from a New Hampshire county jail to a federal detention facility.
Zhukovskyy’s immigration lawyer requested asylum for his shopper. In February 2023, a choose ordered Zhukovskyy’s deportation. But it surely’s unclear below how he may very well be despatched to a rustic at battle with Russia. The U.S. has paused repatriation flights to Ukraine and approved Momentary Protected Standing for certified Ukrainians.
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