By Dan Israeli
The defendant, 26, who was sentenced in February to 18 years to life in prison for the Meadowbrook Parkway crash that resulted in the deaths of 7-year-old Katie Flynn of Lido Beach and Stanley Rabinowitz, 59, of Farmingdale, pleaded not guilty to the new charge. If he is convicted, four additional years could be tacked on to his sentence.
Heidgen is accused of ingesting another inmate¹s saliva from a cup to contaminate a DNA test, according to Assistant County District Attorney Maureen McCormick. The determination was made last September, after prosecutors requested a DNA test to find out whether a blood sample from the crime scene that was originally mishandled by police came from Heidgen.
When the new sample was examined, it was determined that the majority of the DNA was not Heidgen¹s, but rather that of Marco Hernandez, a fellow inmate. McCormick said that the D.A.¹s office had been planning to introduce the tampering charge ever since the dual-DNA discovery was made last fall.
³We had discussions about it when he initially committed the act, but didn¹t want it to interfere with the ongoing trial,² McCormick said. ³This is not merely an attempt to get more jail time. We cannot tolerate a defendant tampering with the tests we use. It sends an absolute wrong message to other defendants.²
Heidgen¹s new court-appointed attorney, Oscar Holt, said his client denies tampering with any evidence, and that the accusation is nothing more than an attempt by prosecutors to increase Heidgen¹s jail time. ³This is squarely retaliation by the D.A.¹s office for not receiving a maximum sentence upon original conviction,² Holt said. ³They tacked on an additional charge for additional time. This is a case of vindictive prosecution, and we intend to vigorously challenge it in court.²
Holt went on to say that his defense will dispute the DNA evidence, and that his client did nothing to intentionally cause his saliva to combine with Hernandez¹s.
In an interesting twist to the case, Assistant D.A. Christopher Holbrook requested that Heidgen be denied bail for the new charge, since granting him bail would reduce the time he would serve for the new charge if he were convicted. Since Heidgen is currently imprisoned and can¹t be released on bail, the time he spends in prison until the new trial¹s conclusion would be deducted from his sentence.
³It¹s a technicality of the system, in which bail is supposed to secure the defendant, but there is clearly no need for that in this case, since he is already imprisoned,² McCormick said.
On July 2, 2005, Heidgen, driving intoxicated and in the wrong direction on the Meadowbrook Parkway, crashed his truck into an oncoming limousine driven by Rabinowitz, in which Flynn and her family, returning from a wedding, were passengers. At the conclusion of Heidgen¹s trial in February, several members of both families voiced their disgust with Heidgen¹s sentence, which they felt should have been the maximum: 25 years to life.
Holt views the new charge as another way keep Heidgen relevant, and what he described as the poster boy for drunk driving cases. ³This is clearly a waste of taxpayers¹ money,² he said. ³There is no logical reason to charge him further other than to keep the issue of Martin Heidgen at the forefront.²
McCormick said that the original trial was that of a ³result-based crime,² in which the result could have hardly been worse. ³But that case is done, and this is a separate issue with different treatment,² she said. ³We need to send a message to people who think it is worth their while to thwart scientific tests.²
Comments about this story? DIsraeli@liherald.com or (516) 569-4000 ext. 214.
