Suffolk County District Attorney will appeal a criminal court judge’s dismissal today of all criminal charges against the driver of the limousine in the fatal July 2015 crash in Cutchogue that took the lives of four young women who were passengers in his car.
Carlos Pino of Bethpage was attempting to make a U-turn onto westbound County Road 48 when his limousine was T-boned by a pickup truck driven by Steven Romeo of Peconic.
Romeo was determined to be under the influence of alcohol and was arrested at the scene.
A Suffolk grand jury in March indicted Pino on four counts of criminally negligent homicide, four counts of assault for injuring the surviving passengers of the limousine, making an illegal U-turn and other charges. He pleaded not guilty and was released on bond.
Pino’s attorney, Leonard Lato of Hauppauge filed a motion to dismiss the charges against him. The motion was granted today in Central Islip by State Supreme Court Justice Fernando Comacho, who ruled that Pino had no criminal culpability for his actions.
“We are extremely disappointed that Justice Camacho determined the actions of Carlos Pino on July 18, 2015 were not criminal,” Spota said in a statement. “Pino’s actions were far from just careless. Pino, an experienced professional limousine driver carrying eight passengers, turned blindly into a roadway when his view was completely blocked by another car. Pino was driving a vehicle he knew or should have known could never make a safe U-turn under the circumstances.
“Justice Camacho’s decision appears to ignore this critical and distinguishing fact. Simply because others made the turn without harm did not make doing so safe or lawful when done blindly as Pino did,” Spota said.
“There is no evidence that the grand jurors were confused by the thorough, fair and impartial legal instructions given to them by prosecutors,” the D.A. said. “The grand jury with the benefit of hearing the testimony of numerous witnesses, including from crash reconstruction experts, reached their decision. The grand jury found that Pino’s heedlessly executed U-turn was serious enough to ‘constitute conduct that should be condemned’ by an indictment,” Spota said.
“The People will certainly appeal the court’s decision.”
Lato could not immediately be reached for comment.
Brittany M. Schulman, 23, of Smithtown, Lauren Baruch, 24, of Smithtown, Stephanie Belli, 23, of Kings Park, and Amy R. Grabina, 23, of Commack lost their lives in the crash.
Romeo, who was charged in the March indictment with driving while intoxicated and driving while ability impaired also pleaded not guilty to all charges.
Blood drawn an hour and 40 minutes after the crash showed Romeo’s blood alcohol level to be .066 percent, which is below the legal limit of .08 percent for driving while intoxicated in New York, but above the .06 percent limit for driving while impaired.
Investigators concluded Romeo’s BAC was at or above the limit at the time of the crash but was lower by the time his blood was drawn more than 90 minutes minutes later, Spota said after the indictment was handed down in March.
Romeo, who has been released on his own recognizance, is next due back in court on Nov . 3.
