Criminal charges lodged more than a year ago against the driver in a crash that killed a popular Oxford teenager may be resolved next month, his lawyer said Wednesday.
And while details of the possible plea deal remain under wraps, the mother of the teen killed in the crash said Wednesday she hopes her son’s friend won’t be imprisoned as a result of the case.
“I don’t think, honestly, that I could sleep at night knowing that he’s in jail because my son passed away,” Angela Borrelli, the mother of Brandon Giordano, who was 15 at the time of his death last March, said.
The man charged in connection with Giordano’s death, Eric Ramirez, 21, appeared briefly at Superior Court in Derby Wednesday, where his case — in which he faces charges of felony misconduct with a motor vehicle, reckless driving, engaging police in pursuit, and two equipment citations — was continued to Dec. 16.
Background
Ramirez was behind the wheel of his 2000 Ford Mustang the night of March 9, 2012, when police said he failed to pull over for a Seymour police officer who was trying to stop him, then sped up Route 67 into Oxford, eventually losing control of his car.
The vehicle careened off the road in the area of Old State Road 67, hit a grassy embankment and launched nearly 60 feet through the air before hitting the side of the Precision Glass and Mirror building.
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Both Ramirez and another passenger, Dion Major, 16 at the time of the crash, were treated at Waterbury Hospital for non-life-threatening injuries.
Ramirez was arrested last September and is free on $10,000 bond.
‘We have a disposition’
In court Wednesday, Ramirez’s lawyer, Tara Knight, said a plea deal has been worked out in the case, but asked for the matter to be continued until next month, when Judge Charles Lee, who brokered the deal, will be on the bench.
“We do have a disposition worked out,” Knight told Judge Karen Sequino, who then continued the case to Dec. 16.
Outside the courtroom, Knight declined to discuss the specifics of the deal.
“We’re just trying to reschedule it so it’s before the judge who did the original pretrial,” Knight said.
The lawyer said Giordano’s family has been more than compassionate toward Ramirez as the case has developed.
“The victims have been very generous,” Knight said. “I’m very moved by the generosity they’ve shown toward Mr. Ramirez.”
Borrelli’s lawyer, Hugh Keefe, who is married to Knight, characterized the crash as “an unspeakable tragedy for both families” in an email Wednesday and said Borrelli opposed jail time for Ramirez.
Mother: Driver Already Living In ‘Emotional Hell’
Reached by phone Wednesday, Borrelli said that while the pain of her son’s death hasn’t gone away, seeing Ramirez in prison would just make it worse.
“Eric is not a person who is out there causing trouble like some punk teenager,” Borrelli said. “He’s a good person, and we know what happened was a tragic mistake and tragic accident. I don’t think Eric as a person deserves jail.”
“I’m not saying what he did was OK, I’m not saying that I agree with everything that happened that night,” Borrelli went on. “I think that he’s already living in his own internal jail. This is like his brother. Brandon and him were very, very close. He’s already suffering every day. What good is jail going to do? The emotional hell he’s living in for the rest of his life is enough.”
The sense of loss from Giordano’s death radiated throughout the community last year, especially Oxford High School, where Giordano was a popular member of the football team.
Classmates remembered Giordano as friendly and outgoing, and said he was always willing to help out others or crack a joke to brighten someone’s day.
Borrelli said Wednesday that her family is still dealing with the loss.
“I’ve had a lot of people tell me that it does get better. In terms of not crying every day, it does get better,” she said. “But that underlying pain never goes away. Every time we do something, we think about him not being there. We miss him a lot.”
“The whole thing, you wish it was just a bad dream and you’d just wake up, but it never goes away,” Borrelli went on. “But I think jail is for hardened criminals. Eric’s just not one of those people who deserves imprisonment for what happened.”
Lawyer: Pursuit Was Illegal
Though Ramirez’s lawyer on Wednesday would not discuss specifics of the plea deal worked out in the case, she reiterated her belief that the police officer who initiated the chase of her client’s car the night of the crash was in the wrong, and said that has played a factor in plea discussions.
A report authored by Seymour Police Lt. Paul Satkowski in December 2012 cleared the officer of wrongdoing.
Days after the report was released in March, Knight called the document a “complete white-wash.”
She didn’t back down from that assessment while talking about the case Wednesday.
“In terms of the Seymour Police It doesn’t obviate or take away any responsibility from the driver when the police engage in an illegal pursuit,” Knight said. “But the reason there are policies against illegal pursuits is precisely because innocent people get killed in them. So I think it does come into play in terms of the ultimate overall disposition in this case.”
Satkowski on Wednesday declined to respond extensively to Knight’s comments because the case might generate civil litigation, but he defended his findings.
“I stand by my investigation,” he said. “I stand by my report.”
