New details were revealed Wednesday about the fatal accident in Springs on June 15, as Luis Barrionuevo-Fuertes, the 18-year-old who was driving the car involved in the crash, appeared for arraignment in Riverhead on a long list of new criminal charges before Acting Supreme Court Justice Steven A. Pilewski. If convicted of the top count of aggravated vehicular homicide, he could face up to 25 years in state prison.
The accident occurred on Old Stone Highway, near Deep Six Drive. There were eight people in the 2009 Toyota Camry when police said it left the road, hit a tree, and rolled over. A 19-year-old East Hampton High School student, Scarleth Milena Urgiles Samaniego, was killed and six other teenage passengers were taken to the hospital. Mr. Barrionuevo-Fuertes was arrested at the scene and charged with aggravated driving while intoxicated with a child passenger less than 16, a felony, and two misdemeanors: first-offense D.W.I. and endangering the welfare of a child.
He now faces the additional felony charges of aggravated vehicular homicide, second-degree manslaughter, aggravated vehicular assault, second-degree vehicular manslaughter, two counts of second-degree assault by means of a deadly weapon, first-degree vehicular assault, and two counts of second-degree vehicular assault.
He has additionally been charged with first-offense D.W.I. with a blood alcohol content of .08 or higher, three counts of reckless third-degree assault, third-degree assault, and reckless driving, all misdemeanors, as well as a speed violation.
Mr. Barrionuevo-Fuertes was walked into the courtroom just before noon Wednesday after a pause, as the court waited for a Spanish-language interpreter to arrive. His mother let out a quick audible cry as the door opened and he came into view in his green jail uniform. His attorney, Melissa Aguanno, who was retained shortly after his arrest, waived a formal reading of the charges and stated that he would be entering pleas of not guilty and demanding a jury trial.
Assistant District Attorney Alex Bopp, who is prosecuting the case, then listed the 19 counts of the new indictment and provided an overview of the underlying facts of the case. Mr. Barrionuevo-Fuertes stood quietly on the other side of the courtroom, his eyes cast down, as the interpreter leaned into his side, translating Mr. Bopp's words.
Between 6:30 and 7 on the evening of June 15, Mr. Bopp said, Mr. Barrionuevo-Fuertes and a group of teenagers were drinking Corona and Modelo beers on Maidstone Beach. When he left, he took seven individuals, ranging in age from 15 to 19, as passengers in his Camry.
Around 7:39 p.m. the defendant was speeding, Mr. Bopp continued, reportedly prompting some of the passengers to tell him to "slow down," and he failed to navigate a curve in the road, crossing over the double yellow lines into the lane of oncoming traffic. The defendant then "overcorrected" in the opposite direction and lost control of the vehicle, which veered off the side of the road, crashed into a tree, and flipped the vehicle onto its passenger side, killing Ms. Urgiles Samaniego in the impact. She was riding in the back seat.
Another passenger had sustained serious injuries, the assistant district attorney said. A press release put out by the D.A.'s office Wednesday afternoon described her injuries as a spinal fracture and "severe lacerations to her hand that resulted in significant disfigurement."
Mr. Bopp added that black box data retrieved from the car revealed that just before the collision it had been traveling at 74.6 miles per hour in a 30-m.p.h. zone, and that Mr. Barrionuevo-Fuertes had admitted to drinking three beers on the beach. He later consented to a blood alcohol test that found a level of .08 percent.
Due to the severity of the charges, and the fact that he would be facing "upstate time" if convicted of the top count — between 8 1/3 and 25 years in prison, according to the press release — Mr. Bopp requested that Justice Pilewski set bail at $500,000 cash or $1 million bond, order that the defendant's license be suspended, and asked that he be required to forfeit his passport if he is able to post bail.
Ms. Aguanno addressed the court next. "My client stands before you, 18 years old, with no criminal history," she began, and went on to say that he been on a "good path" before the incident, including his participation in a two-year BOCES program in law enforcement. She pointed out that his family was in the courtroom supporting him.
She requested a supervised release program with GPS conditions, pending trial, "so that my client can assist in his defense," and further asked Justice Pilewski to read his B.A.C. level of .08 percent as "not egregious," considering it was right at the level of legal intoxication.
Justice Pilewski set bail at $500,000 cash, $1 million bond, and $5 million partially secured bond, and ordered that Mr. Barrionuevo-Fuertes's license be suspended while the case is pending, in line with Mr. Bopp's recommendations. Mr. Barrionuevo-Fuertes is due back in court on Aug. 19.
