Opening statements in trial of driver who hit cop
Rahiem Griffin had been drinking all night and had even taken a drink with him on the road when he slammed into Nassau Police Officer Kenneth Baribault's patrol car as it sat on the side of the Long Island Expressway last May, a Nassau prosecutor said Monday.
Prosecutor Melissa Lewis said Griffin was drunk, speeding, and driving with a suspended license that morning - all of which constitutes reckless behavior that should land Griffin in prison for up to 7 years.
As a result of that crash, Baribault can't "play catch with his 7-year-old son. He can't pick him up. In fact, he can no longer do anything he used to do," Lewis said in a Mineola courtroom.
A year after the May 18 crash in Plainview, Baribault, 30, remains paralyzed on his right side, and can speak only in single syllables.
Lewis presented her opening argument Monday morning on the first day on Griffin's trial on second-degree assault charges.
Griffin's lawyer Gerard Brogdon of Jamaica, said in his opening argument that his client did make some mistakes that morning, but that his behavior was not reckless.
He also said that one of Griffin's tires had been recently replaced and was not functioning properly.
"We know Mr. Griffin did some things wrong that night. He didn't do everything wrong," Brogdon said.
Posted Monday, June 1, 2009
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