CONCORD, N.H. (AP) 鈥
A jury on Tuesday acquitted a commercial truck driver of causing the 2019 deaths of seven motorcyclists in a head-on collision in northern New Hampshire.
Volodymyr Zhukovskyy, 26, of West Springfield, Massachusetts, had pleaded not guilty to multiple counts of negligent homicide, manslaughter, driving under the influence, and reckless conduct, although some of the charges were dropped during the trial. He has been in jail since the crash on June 21, 2019, in Randolph.
His trial began on July 26.
The seven who died were part of a Marines motorcycle club and were from New Hampshire, Massachusetts and Rhode Island. They ranged in age from 42 to 62. They were part of a larger group that had just left a motel and were headed to an American Legion Post in Gorham for a fundraiser.
The jury deliberated for less than 3 hours before returning the verdict.
THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. APsa国际传媒 earlier story follows below.
CONCORD, N.H. (AP) 鈥 Jury deliberations in the New Hampshire trial of a truck driver charged with killing seven motorcyclists began Tuesday after closing statements raised questions about who was more 鈥渁ll over the place鈥: the trucker accused of swerving back and forth across the road or the eyewitnesses accused of contradicting each other.
Volodymyr Zhukovskyy, 26, of West Springfield, Massachusetts, faces negligent homicide, manslaughter and reckless conduct charges in connection with the June 21, 2019, crash that of a Marine motorcycle club.
Prosecutors have argued that Zhukovskyy, who had taken heroin, fentanyl and cocaine that day, repeatedly swerved back and forth before the head-on crash and told police he caused it. But a judge dismissed eight charges related to whether he was impaired, and his attorneys blame the lead biker, Albert 鈥淲oody鈥 Mazza, who was among those killed.
鈥淗e was drunk, he was not looking where he was going, he lost control of his motorcycle and slid in front of Vlad Zhukovskyysa国际传媒 truck. Al Mazza caused this accident. Vlad Zhukovskyy is not guilty,鈥 defense attorney Jay Duguay said in closing statements.
鈥淭here is no doubt that this accident was a tragedy,鈥 Duguay said. 鈥淏ut we are not here to decide whether or not this was a tragedy.鈥
Duguay accused prosecutors of ignoring that their own accident reconstruction unit contradicted their theory that Zhukovskyy crossed into the oncoming lane. An expert hired by the defense, meanwhile, testified that the crash happened on the center line of the road and would have occurred even if the truck was in the middle of its lane because Mazzasa国际传媒 motorcycle was heading in that direction.
鈥淔rom the beginning of this investigation, the state had made up their mind about what had happened, evidence be damned,鈥 said Duguay, who also highlighted inconsistencies between witness accounts or when witnesses contradicted themselves.
鈥淭hose witnesses were all over the place about what they recalled and what they claimed to have seen,鈥 he said.
In particular, Duguay suggested that members of the Jarheads Motorcycle Club 鈥渟haded鈥 their accounts to protect Mazza and the club. Prosecutor Scott Chase acknowledged some inconsistencies, but asked jurors to remember the circumstances.
鈥淧eople were covering the dead, trying to save the barely living, comforting the dying. This wasn鈥檛 story time,鈥 he said. 鈥淭hey were up here talking about some of the most unimaginable chaos, trauma, death and carnage that we can even imagine three years later. They were talking about hell broke open.鈥
Witnesses were consistent, he argued, in describing the truck as weaving back and forth before the crash. That behavior continued 鈥渦ntil he killed people,鈥 Chase said.
鈥淭hatsa国际传媒 what stopped him. Itsa国际传媒 not that he made some responsible decision to start paying attention or do the right thing,鈥 he said. 鈥淭he only thing that stopped him was an embankment after he tore through a group of motorcycles.鈥
Chase called the attempt to blame Mazza a 鈥渇anciful story鈥 and 鈥渇rivolous distraction,鈥 while reminding jurors of that Zhukovskyy, who didn鈥檛 testify at trial, told investigators 鈥淥bviously, I caused the crash.鈥
鈥淗e was crystal clear from the very beginning that he caused this crash,鈥 Chase said. 鈥淭hat is what he said, because that is what happened.鈥
The motorcyclists who died were from New Hampshire, Massachusetts and Rhode Island and ranged in age from 42 to 62. They were part of a larger group that had just left a motel along U.S. Route 2 in Randolph.
Killed were Mazza, of Lee, New Hampshire; Edward and Jo-Ann Corr, a couple from Lakeville, Massachusetts; Michael Ferazzi, of Contoocook, New Hampshire; Desma Oakes, of Concord, New Hampshire; Daniel Pereira, of Riverside, Rhode Island; and Aaron Perry, of Farmington, New Hampshire.
