Brad Casler Found Guilty In Deadly Sweet Tomatoes Crash; Bail Revoked
BOSTON (CBS) – A jury found Brad Casler, the driver involved in the 2016 deadly Sweet Tomatoes crash, guilty on all counts Monday.
Casler was on trial for two motor vehicle homicide charges and one charge of operating to endanger after his S.U.V. drove through an intersection in Newton and crashed through the Sweet Tomatoes pizza shop, killing 32-year-old Gregory Morin and 57-year-old Eleanor Miele.
Judge Merita Hopkins decided to revoke Casler's bail after the guilty verdicts. "I am not insensitive to the fact that Mr. Casler has a medical concern," she said. "It is my intention, given the changed circumstances, to revoke bail."
Casler is set to be sentenced on Nov. 20
"I think he's just in kind of a disbelief," said Thomas Giblin, Casler's defense attorney. "He's obviously really upset because he's never had any criminal involvement in his life before."
Giblin blamed Casler's multiple sclerosis for the crash and said he should not be held criminally responsible.
"I've been doing this a long time," Giblin said. "This is probably the saddest I've been with a jury's performance."
Jurors began deliberating late in the day on Thursday. Testimony in the case took one week with 23 witnesses, including Casler himself, taking the stand.
Members of the jury were given scene photos and maps, along with 1,100 of Casler's medical records. The jury consisted of five women and seven men.
Both Morin and Miele's families were in court Monday. While they are happy with the verdict - the pain of their loss remains with them forever.
"It will never be closed for us," said Erica Morin, Greg's wife. "I just think that it's time for us to move past this one part of it."
Last year, Casler turned down a plea deal which would have given him a 2-year prison sentence. Instead, he opted to take his chances with a jury.
"He took a chance on the system and realistically if you think about it, if he had taken the plea, by now he might very well have been done," said Tom Desmond, Eleanor Miele's brother.
Casler could face up to seven years in prison.
