At trial, details of fatal crash

POUGHKEEPSIE — The sentence for 17-year-old Dustin Hale of Pine Plains was expected to be determined this week, after The Lakeville Journal went to press. The trial for Hale began last week, on Thursday, Aug. 7, at the Dutchess County Courthouse in downtown Poughkeepsie.He is charged with four felonies: aggravated vehicular homicide, first-​degree vehicular manslaughter and two counts of second-​degree manslaughter.The one-car accident from which these charges stem occurred in Pine Plains on Aug. 29, 2013, when Hale, the driver of the car, was 16. Also in the car were his friends, Zachary Pruner, 16, and Gian Stagnaro, 17, who were killed in that accident. The third passenger, Niall Johnson, was not badly injured. Hale is being tried as an adult. Dutchess County Senior Assistant District Attorney Jessica Segal, in her opening statement, presented a scenario that had Hale purchasing and smoking marijuana immediately before the accident. Public Defender George Hazel stressed that “speed alone does not make it reckless.” The first witness called was Johnson, who is now 17. Smoking Purple HazeHe said he, Hale and Pruner had contacted a drug dealer in Red Hook via text message and negotiated a purchase of Purple Haze — known to be a particularly potent form of marijuana. The purchase was made at a local Dunkin’ Donuts, and then the three drove to a secluded area off Schultz Hill Road in Pine Plains known as “top of the world” due to its view. It was there, Johnson said, that the three young men first smoked marijuana that day. That was around 3 p.m. On their return to town, Johnson said that Hale drove the car at speeds up to approximately 80 mph. He wanted to race over a crest in the road to become momentarily airborne. Apparently this happened with no adverse repercussions. The young men then returned to town, Johnson said, to pick up Stagnaro. They then drove back to “top of the world” and smoked more marijuana. ‘Hot boxing,’ and flyingJohnson said that this time they deliberately kept the windows of the car rolled up. He called this “hot boxing” and said it was done to contain the smoke so they could inhale more of the fumes, thus increasing the effect of the marijuana. Somewhere around 3:45 p.m., he said, the decision was made to leave that location in order to take Pruner to pre-season football practice at Stissing Mountain High School, scheduled to begin at 4 p.m. This was when, according to Johnson, they all agreed to attempt to make Hale’s Subaru go airborne at that same crest, along Schultz Hill Road. While approaching the crest, Johnson said he remembers someone shouting out, “We’re going so fast,” at which point Johnson looked at the speedometer, which he said read 100 mph. He testified that he recalled saying, “Oh my God, slow down,” just before the car crashed. The car hit an embankment and then rolled down a ravine before hitting a tree and stopping on its side. Pruner and Stagnaro were pronounced dead at the scene of the crash without having shown any signs of life when first responders appeared minutes later. Johnson suffered minor head injuries. Hale was critically injured and airlifted to Albany Medical Center; he had a full recovery. EMT who found the bodiesJeff Galm of the Milan Volunteer Fire Department was a first responder at the crash site. It was Galm who first discovered the bodies of Pruner and Stagnaro. Later he assisted in the rescue of Johnson and Hale. Galm’s testimony, along with pictures of the crash site, elicited strong emotional reactions in the courtroom.On the second day of the trial, jurors heard from two detectives. One talked about the questioning of Johnson at St. Francis Hospital in Poughkeepsie; and about obtaining a blood sample from Hale hours after the crash while at Albany Medical Center.The other detective explained how text conversations from Hale’s cell phone were transferred to a computer disc and later submitted as evidence. Donna Papsun, a forensic toxicology expert, testified that Hale’s blood test showed a low level of marijuana in his system. Papsun added there is no way of knowing what the levels were at the time of the crash. Hale’s attorney quickly confirmed with Papsun that, “As far as we know, we can’t tell when anybody ingested anything, and we don’t know how much.”Senior Assistant District Attorney Segal followed up with Papsun by asking if it “was possible” the amount of tetrahydrocannabinol, the active ingredient in marijuana, in his system could have been “much higher” earlier that day. Papsun said it was possible. At the close of the second day of testimony, Pruner’s mother, Susan Treacy, spoke to The Millerton News, saying, “We’ve waited a whole year to hear the story of what really happened.” She said, “This was a preventable crash. You want the person responsible to be held fully accountable, which would mean substantial time in jail. Any time he spends in jail will still probably allow him a full life afterward. People say he has to live with this the rest of his life, this burden, and I say prove it.”Stagnaro’s mother, Val Hammarth, said, “My desire would be for the defendant to be convicted and subjected to the full extent of the law. “One of the most galling things is knowing that the defendant was issued a ticket for speeding at 75 mph in a 55 mph zone just two months before the crash and that there were no parental repercussions, no disciplinary action, in that he continued to drive.”When approached by this reporter, Hale’s family members said they had no comment.