By Mike Schnitzel
Heidgen, 25, of Valley Stream, is being tried in New York State Supreme Court in Mineola for second-degree murder, 14 months after he drove his pickup truck in the wrong direction on the Meadowbrook Parkway and smashed into a limousine, killing 7-year-old Katie Flynn of Lido Beach and the limousine¹s driver, Stanley Rabinowitz, 59, of Farmingdale. Four members of Flynn¹s family were also injured in the crash.
State police investigator Michael Harris testified on Tuesday that Heidgen had told him he was in ³self-destruct mode² on the night of July 1, 2005, in the hours before the early-morning crash. He had gotten into an argument with an ex-girlfriend and became very upset, according to Harris. ³He said he was very upset and depressed and drank a lot of alcohol,² Harris said.
Heidgen¹s lawyer, Stephen LaMagna of Garden City, has said that Heidgen was in a cheerful mood on the night of the crash, and that several of his friends were willing to testify to that.
Prosecutors hope to prove that Heidgen was despondent, and that he knew his actions that night could kill someone. They claim that he was acting with ³depraved indifference² and that the crash amounted to murder, as Nassau County District Attorney Kathleen Rice said at a press conference last week.
LaMagna is also trying to refute the prosecution¹s contention that Heidgen was driving at high speed when the crash occurred. LaMagna has said previously that Heidgen, who had lived in Valley Stream for about eight months at the time of the accident, had gotten lost before, realizing he was going the wrong way on the parkway, and was slowing down to try and find his way. LaMagna said that an accident reconstruction expert he had hired estimated that Heidgen was driving at a speed of 33 mph before the crash. Prosecutor Maureen McCormick said that according to the first estimate from state police, Heidgen¹s speed was 45 mph.
Wade Bartlett, an accident reconstruction expert from New Hampshire, was hired by the district attorney¹s office to make an independent determination of the pickup¹s speed when it struck the limousine. After an initial estimate of 23 to 30 mph, Bartlett came back with a revised estimate of 60 mph.
LaMagna objected when the prosecution tried to call another expert, John Kwasnoski of Massachusetts, to testify. LaMagna contended that the prosecution was ³shopping² for someone who would say Heidgen was driving fast. ³They¹ve gotten expert after expert so they can finally get someone to give an opinion to fit their case,² LaMagna said. Judge Alan Honorof ruled that Kwasnoski could not testify on Tuesday, but reserved judgment on whether he may be allowed to testify later as a rebuttal witness.
There has also been legal wrangling over Heidgen¹s blood samples. State Trooper Daniel O¹Hare testified on Sept. 12 that he was present when a nurse drew blood from Heidgen at Nassau University Medical Center after the crash. O¹Hare said he labeled Heidgen¹s blood sample with a piece of white tape, and added his own initials and the date the sample was taken. O¹Hare said he did not record Heidgen¹s name because he ³couldn¹t get a coherent response² when he asked for his name. Prosecutors said the test showed that Heidgen¹s blood alcohol content was .28 percent, more than three times the legal limit of .08 percent.
LaMagna has questioned the validity of the test, contending that it cannot be proved that the blood that was tested belonged to Heidgen. State Police Investigator Eric Baez testified on Monday that Heidgen¹s blood sample was sealed with orange tape, not white, contradicting O¹Hare¹s previous testimony.
On Sept. 15, prosecutors had the wreckage of the two vehicles involved in the crash brought to the courthouse for jurors and family members to examine. The Flynn family declined to view the wreckage. ³We don¹t have to see it again,² said Christopher Tangney, Katie Flynn¹s grandfather. ³We lived it.² Jurors and members of Rabinowitz¹s family gasped at the mangled vehicles, many wiping tears from their eyes. Keith Rabinowitz, the limousine driver¹s 28-year-old son, said the sight made him angrier than ever before.
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