Singh was involved in accident last year that killed a man.
AB Wire
NEW YORK: An Indian American woman, Malina M. Singh, 20, of Lake Luzerne, New York, is likely to serve up to six years in prison after she pleaded guilty to a vehicular manslaughter charge in a fatal car-pedestrian crash last September.
Singh pleaded guilty to second-degree vehicular manslaughter for the September 5 collision on Route 9N that killed 34-year-old Corinth resident Jonathan L. Rogers, reported Glen Falls Post-Star.
Police said Singh was driving a Ford sedan north when she hit Rogers near the intersection of Antone Mountain Road just after 3 a.m. She was found to have a 0.18 percent blood alcohol content after the crash, more than double the 0.08 percent threshold for DWI, police said.
Her lawyer, Michael Horan, was quoted by the Post-Star as saying Singh wanted to spare the victim’s family a trial. He said there was a “difference of opinion” as to whether Rogers was in the travelled lane or off the shoulder when hit.
The Saratoga County Sheriff’s Office said investigators determined that Rogers was off the road, walking north toward his home after spending time at a bar in Corinth, when Singh drove out of her lane and hit him. Horan said an accident reconstruction expert hired by the defense believed he was in the travelled lane.
Authorities said his blood alcohol content was 0.23 percent, but under state law, the presumption of guilt is with the driver when they are intoxicated.
Singh could have faced a weightier charge of first-degree vehicular manslaughter, which could have brought a sentence of up to 15 years in prison, her lawyer pointed out.
Saratoga County District Attorney Karen Heggen said her office has been in contact with Rogers’ family throughout the course of the case and their input has been valuable, reported The Saratogian, from a press release.
“We, along with the family, are pleased that the Defendant has finally chosen to accept responsibility for her actions. While there is no amount of time that can compensate for the life taken due to the defendant’s senseless and criminal action to drive drunk on September 5, 2014, we believe that this morning’s plea has brought justice to the family of Mr. Rogers,” said Heggen.
Heggen said Rogers leaves behind two young sons and noted the plea from Singh comes the day after Father’s day, last month.
Singh is to be sentenced August 10 in Saratoga County Court. She agreed to serve a prison term of 2 to 6 years.