Donna De La Cruz, Associated Press Writer
NEW YORK (AP) _ A former police officer was convicted of second-degree manslaughter Friday for fatally running down a Brooklyn family of four after a 12-hour drinking binge that started shortly after he got off work.
A state jury deliberated for about four hours over two days before handing down its verdict against Joseph Gray, who had testified he drank up to 13 beers hours before the Aug. 4, 2001, fatal accident.
Gray, 41, did not show any emotion when the verdict was read. His wife, Diana, who wore dark sunglasses in the courtroom, also remained impassive as the jury foreman declared her husband guilty. As the jury deliberated, the couple sat close together on a courtroom bench, with Mrs. Gray resting her head on her husband’s shoulder.
Gray was then handcuffed and jailed immediately. He will be sentenced May 23 and faces a minimum sentence of probation, and a maximum of 5 to 15 years, a sentence criticized as too lenient by the prosecutors.
``I think five to 15 years for four lives is not enough,’' said Deputy District Attorney Joseph Petrosino. ``I think consecutive sentences should be applied but it is not possible under the law.’'
Petrosino and Assistant District Attorney Maureen McCormick, who also prosecuted the case, were grateful for the jury’s verdict. They both said Gray’s testimony backfired.
``I don’t think he testified very credibly,’' Petrosino said.
Gray, of Staten Island, had pleaded innocent to manslaughter in the deaths of Maria Herrera, 24, who was eight months pregnant; her 4-year-old son Andy, and her sister, Dilcia Pena, 16. Gray was also charged with the death of Herrera’s baby boy, Ricardo, who was delivered after the accident but also died.
Members of both the Herrera and Pena families were in the courtroom, but they sat quietly as Gray was convicted.
``My life has been destroyed since that guy got in a car drunk and killed my family,’' widower Victor Herrera said outside the courthouse afterward. He called for the maximum sentence.
Herrera’s attorney, Oscar Herasme, said the family would consider taking civil action in the death after the sentencing.
Gray’s attorney, Harold Levy, said his client was ``very disappointed’’ in the jury’s verdict, but not surprised.
``He’ll go on with his life,’' Levy added.
Levy mounted an unusual defense: He conceded that Gray was driving while intoxicated, but claimed his client’s high alcohol tolerance gave him the ``ability’’ to drive.
``He’s guilty of that,’' Levy said. ``They proved that. As hard as it may be to swallow, that’s all he’s guilty of.’'
Gray has testified that he drank as many as 13 beers during a 12-hour period after completing his overnight shift, beginning in the police parking lot and continuing at a Brooklyn strip club that was off limits to 72nd Precinct officers.
Prosecutors contend he drank 18 beers during that time. Gray testified that he felt OK to drive that night, and that he was not drunk.
Gray’s blood alcohol content was measured at .16, an NYPD chemist testified on Monday. The legal limit is .10.
Jurors heard two varying accounts of the accident. Prosecutors contended that Gray was traveling at least 50 miles an hour and ran a red light before hitting the victims as they crossed well-lighted Third Avenue and 46th Street in the Sunset Park neighborhood.
Gray, who has three daughters of his own, said he was driving 30 mph and had a green light when the victims walked out from the shadows of the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway overpass and into the path.
In his closing statement, Levy said the victims, in part, ``were responsible for what happened.’'
In her closing statement, McCormick acknowledged that the case showed that the police had some missteps in their investigation, and the DA’s office was looking into whether there was any misconduct on the NYPD’s part. The police department’s Internal Affairs Bureau was also monitoring the trial.
Last August, rather than face a firing by the NYPD, Gray resigned after 15 years on the force. He was suspended without pay for 30 days after the fatal crash.
In the wake of the accident, then-police Commissioner Bernard Kerik transferred, suspended or modified the job descriptions of 17 officers from the precinct. Three of those officers were subsequently fired.