Loophole in New York's drugged driving law made it hard to charge suspect in deadly crash, prosecutor says
NEW YORK — A prosecutor tells CBS News New York investigator Mahsa Saeidi a loophole in New York law made it difficult to charge a drugged driver who killed four members of a Long Island family last year.
In New York, a driver impaired by drugs will only be charged if the drug is named and happens to be on a list created by lawmakers, and judges have ruled you must name the drug before the arrest. Most states – 46 – do not have this loophole.
Saeidi has been reporting on the push to close this loophole that critics say keeps dangerous drivers on our roads.
Father, 3 children killed by driver high on fentanyl, cocaine
On Aug. 6, 2023, Tasheba Hamilton's family was out for ice cream, stopped at a red light on Sunrise Highway in Massapequa. Six people were in the vehicle. Video shows driver Michael DeAngelo's car strike them like a missile, says Katie Zizza, deputy bureau chief at the Nassau County District Attorney's Office.
Sixty-year-old Patrice Huntley, 10-year-old Jeremiah and 13-year-old Hannah were killed. Another child, 6-year-old Chantel, was critically injured and died at the hospital several days later.
"As I arrived to claim each and every one of my family members' bodies... I had to hold my son with his neck ripped open," Hamilton said at the time.
Zizza says evidence showed DeAngelo was high.
"There's no question to maybe the general public that somebody who's surrounded by hypodermic needles and has track marks up and down his arms, that person was using drugs. But under the current law in New York state, that's not the only question. The question is what drug?" she said.
To name the drug, Zizza needed to test DeAngelo's blood – something she could only do legally after the arrest. If blood is tested before an arrest, all the evidence can be tossed out.
Zizza says they couldn't charge DeAngelo with drugged driving, and it mattered.
"Drugged driving is what elevated all of the charges," she said.
To get the toxicology, the veteran prosecutor says she devised a work-around partly due to the video that showed DeAngelo's reckless driving moments before the crash.
"We're not always that fortunate to have that many witnesses or video to give us probable cause for a different crime," Zizza said. "Once we tested the blood, we learned that there was fentanyl and cocaine in his blood."
DeAngelo pled guilty. The maximum sentence he faces with the elevated drugged driving charges is 14 years.
"Imagine being a family and hearing that and starting to do the math on, OK, so how many years per life? Is that the value of that person's life? Of course it's not. Those are difficult conversations," Zizza said.
Hamilton is preparing for the second Christmas without her children.
"They don't have another chance to breathe again. They're, they're gone forever," she said. "I will never be OK."
Hamilton added, "I just think that legislators, and especially the governor, you know, should really try as hard as they can to work on, you know, fixing these laws."
Gov. Hochul urged to close New York's drugged driving loophole
In October, the chair of the National Transportation Safety Board urged Gov. Kathy Hochul to take action to close this loophole.
The governor declined CBS News New York's request for an interview. Her office highlighted that the DMV has rolled out steeper penalties – increased points – for drug-related convictions.
Zizza says that has nothing to do with the loophole.
"The problem is you can't get to the conviction?" Saeidi asked.
"Correct," Zizza said. "If I'm not being arrested because law enforcement can't name the drug I'm on ... Then I'm never getting convicted, and then I'm never getting those points."
This week, when asked about the drugged driving loophole again, Hochul's spokesperson said, "Public safety is Governor Hochul's top priority, which is why she's taken action to stop car thefts and crack down on 'ghost vehicles' that break our laws. Governor Hochul will unveil her State of the State agenda and Executive Budget next month."
"If New York closes the loophole, do you think lives will be saved?" Saeidi asked Zizza.
"Absolutely," Zizza said.
Closing the loophole means getting rid of the list so it would be illegal to drive while impaired by any drug, just like drunk driving laws.