Judge upholds conviction of drunk driving in deadly 2018 Alligator Alley crash
TALLAHASSEE -- An appeals court Wednesday upheld the conviction of a man who was accused of driving drunk when he crashed into a van on Alligator Alley in March 2018, killing one person and injuring 14 others.
A three-judge panel of the 4th District Court of Appeal rejected arguments by attorneys for Nisbany Surit-Garcias, who was convicted in Broward County of one count of DUI manslaughter, three counts of DUI causing serious bodily injury, 11 counts of DUI causing injury and one count of DUI causing property damage.
The ruling said 15 people were traveling in a rented van after attending a spring training baseball game, when a pickup truck driven by Surit-Garcias hit the van while attempting to pass it. Passengers were ejected from the van, with one dying.
The ruling did not provide details about the victims, but media reports and an obituary identified the dead woman as Lauren VanReese, an 18-year-old Minnesota college student who, along with other occupants of the van, had attended a spring training game in Fort Myers.
In the appeal, Surit-Garcias' attorneys argued, in part, that a mistrial should have been declared because a prosecutor said during an opening statement that Surit-Garcias had a 0.17 blood-alcohol level at the time of the accident — but did not produce evidence during the trial to support the claim.
The appeals court, however, rejected the argument. "It was not necessary for the jury to rely on a specific blood alcohol level to find that the defendant was impaired at the time of the crash," said the ruling, written by Judge Robert Gross and joined by Chief Judge Mark Klingensmith and Judge Alan Forst.
"At least 10 witnesses observed the defendant showing signs of impairment by alcohol, including multiple witnesses who observed him at the accident scene shortly after the crash."
The ruling also upheld a 33-year prison sentence.
