By Mike Schnitzel
Heidgen, 25, of Valley Stream, is facing second-degree murder charges at his trial in New York State Supreme Court in Mineola for driving in the wrong direction on the parkway and slamming head-on into a limousine carrying a family home from a wedding reception in Bayville. Katie Flynn, 7, of Lido Beach, and the limousine driver, Stanley Rabinowitz, 59, of Farmingdale, were killed in the crash.
Tests of Heidgen's blood revealed that he had as many as 14 drinks in his system when he got into his truck to drive home from a friend's party that night. Heidgen's attorney, Stephen LaMagna of Garden City, argued in court that even if the tested sample is Heidgen's blood, mishandling by state police could have contaminated it.
The second DNA test used a sample of Heidgen's blood taken in the presence of witnesses to ensure its legitimacy. Acting State Supreme Court Justice Alan Honorof allowed the second test after an initial DNA test revealed the presence of two men's DNA. Prosecutors allege that Heidgen attempted to sabotage the test by obtaining blood, saliva or semen from another prisoner. LaMagna said that Heidgen had not done so, and LaMagna did not believe his client had been sexually assaulted before the test was administered.
The second DNA was linked by police to a man involved in an unsolved statutory rape case in 2003. Eric Phillips, a spokesman for the Nassau County district attorney's office, said that the D.A. would pursue criminal charges when prosecutors find out who supplied Heidgen with the DNA.
After the jury left the courtroom on Tuesday, Honorof said he believed that Heidgen has deliberately tried to manipulate evidence in the case by contaminating the initial DNA sample and coaching friends on how to testify. "It's almost like a pattern is developing where a defendant would try to make sure that stories matched, and at the same time deliberately tamper with the DNA sample so as to provide a false result to the court," Honorof said.
On Monday, Josh Zigman, who was described as Heidgen's best friend, testified that Heidgen had sent him a letter from prison describing how he had lied to police to keep his friends out of trouble. Heidgen had told police he had become upset the night of the accident after having a fight with an ex-girlfriend, and was in "self-destruct mode." He said that he drank a bottle of scotch at home before driving away in his truck.
In the letter to Zigman, which was read at the trial on Monday, Heidgen wrote, "As you know, the fifth [of scotch] on top of my fridge has been empty for months before the accident. Lindsay [Long, his ex-girlfriend] and I never even spoke on the phone that day."
Zigman said that Heidgen told him he lied to police to protect friends who hosted the Merrick party Heidgen attended before the crash. He also wrote in the letter that he told police he had fought with an ex-girlfriend after thinking about the movie "Ocean's Eleven," in which an inmate told a parole board that he got arrested after his wife left him.
"I would ask the jury to think about what person has a movie-line defense ready to go after a crash," prosecutor Maureen McCormick said in court on Monday. For his part, LaMagna said that Heidgen's letter proves he was not in "self-destruct mode" the night of the crash.
Before Zigman's testimony, a third driver, who was also involved in the fatal wreck, testified. Steed Davidson, 40, who lived in Freeport at the time of the crash, was heading home on the Meadowbrook Parkway when he saw headlights coming toward him, according to his testimony. Davidson said he was unable to stop after Heidgen struck the limousine, and he also slammed into the limousine. After the crash, Davidson said, he immediately called police. When a tape of that call was played, Katie Flynn's mother, Jennifer, could be heard screaming in the background.
Prosecutors are trying to prove that Heidgen acted with "depraved indifference" before and after the crash, in order to support their contention that his actions constituted murder, as District Attorney Kathleen Rice said at a press conference as the trial began trial three weeks ago.
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