Hussain’s attorney plans to appeal sentence in Schoharie limo trial

Nauman Hussain has been sentenced to five to 15 years in prison for his role in the 2018 Schoharie limo crash. He was convicted of 20 counts of manslaughter earlier this month.

Just minutes after Hussain was sentenced to five to 15 years in prison, attorney Lee Kindlon put the court on notice.

Hussain is the operator of Prestige Limo, the company that owned the limo. He was accused of not getting proper work done on the limo, not getting it inspected and not maintaining the brakes.

Twenty people were killed – 18 people in the limo and two people who were hit by the out-of-control limo in a nearby parking lot.

“I think that there were problems with the jury instructions. I think that there is what we lawyers call a wait and sufficiency problem with the proof,” Kindlon said.

The appeal will also revisit the issue of Judge Peter Lynch overturning the original plea deal, Kindlon said.

He also plans to seek bail for Hussain. In fact, they planned to file a bail application last week, but decided to review it more thoroughly before submitting it.

“Which we were working on last night and even some email traffic this morning, before I came here. So that’s in the works and that can be filed at any time – and it’ll be filed soon,” Kindlon said.

When the judge gave Hussain the opportunity to speak today, Kindlon spoke on his behalf. Outside court, he explained why.

“His words were basically, ‘Hey Sir, I really want a chance to stand up and say I’m sorry.’ And I said, ‘Nauman you just can’t. I have to preserve your rights on appeal,'” Kindlon said.

He also said he empathizes with some of the victims’ relatives who called his client a mass murderer.

“It’s clear that the wounds are still raw, and if they want to call my client something, that is their absolute right to do so,” Kindlon said.

Kindlon hopes the civil cases against Mavis and others will proceed more quickly now, he said.

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