Limo company operator in Schoharie crash appeals conviction to state’s highest court
The limo company operator involved in the deadly Schoharie crash that killed 20 people is appealing his conviction to the state’s highest court.
Nauman Hussain’s attorney has filed a motion asking that the state Court of Appeals hear the case.
Hussain was sentenced to 5 to 15 years in prison for allowing the Ford Excursion stretch limousine to remain on the road, even though the brakes needed to be redone, and the vehicle was not properly inspected. The vehicle crashed at the bottom of a hill in October 2018 and crashed, killing the driver, 17 passengers and two pedestrians.
Hussain was convicted in May 2023 of 20 counts of second-degree manslaughter and sentenced to prison time.
Hussain is making similar arguments that he made to the mid-level appeals court, which were rejected last November.
In September 2021, he pleaded guilty in exchange for a likely sentence of interim probation. However, the judge who accepted the plea retired. In August 2022, the new judge rejected that recommendation and planned to sentence him to the maximum term of 1 1/3 to 4 years.
He gave Hussain less than 20 minutes to decide whether to accept that or go to trial. Hussain decided to go to trial.
The justices of the Appellate Division, 3rd Judicial Department found that Hussain should have been given more time to decide. However, it did not believe that was enough to overturn the conviction.
Hussain’s attorney, Steven Sharp, disagrees.
“In similar instances, this Court and others have reversed the conviction because the denial of the adjournment interfered with the defendant’s right to effectively confer with counsel,” he wrote.
Sharp’s second point in the appeal claims that the court did not instruct the jury that prosecutors needed to prove that Hussain knew that the brake failure would cause the crash in the manner that it did. He cited that there was an intervening factor.
At trial, representatives from Mavis had testified that they billed the limo company for work, but necessary repairs had not been performed.
The case has not yet been accepted by the Court of Appeals.
The Times Union first reported the story.
