By Jim Fitzgerald, Associated Press Writer
The husband of the drunken wrong-way driver blamed for a crash that killed eight people on a New York highway will be questioned under oath about where his wife obtained drugs and alcohol, victims’ lawyers said Thursday.
In this file photo of Aug. 18, 2009, Michael Bastardi Jr., center, attends a news conference with his wife, Jeanne Bastardi, right, and the White Plains District Attorney Janet DiFiore in White Plains, N.Y. Michael Bastardi Jr. lost both his father and brother in a wrong-way crash that killed eight people. An attorney preparing a lawsuit against the estate of Diane Schuler, the Long Island woman who caused the crash, claims at least one of the Bastardis survived the impact of the crash and suffered at least briefly from pain and from the knowledge he was about to die. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig, File)
The lawyers spoke at a news conference after filing a lawsuit against the estate of Diane Schuler, the 36-year-old Long Island woman who was found to be drunk and high on marijuana when she drove a minivan loaded with children nearly two miles into oncoming traffic north of New York City on July 26.
The lawsuit also names Schuler’s brother, Warren Hance, because he owned the minivan, the lawyers said. It was filed on behalf of the survivors of victims Michael Bastardi, 81, and his son Guy Bastardi, 49.
Attorney Irving Anolik said they hope to learn “whether anyone might be liable as an accessory in some capacity.” His colleague Brian Sichol, noting that the lawsuit respresents the first court action in the case, said they want to know more about “what took place, what people knew about it, perhaps where the illegal drugs were acquired, how much she drank and when.”
The crash killed Schuler, her daughter, Hance’s three young daughters, the Bastardis and their friend Daniel Longo, 74, who was with them in the SUV Schuler hit. Schuler’s 5-year-old son, Bryan, survived.
Schuler’s husband, Daniel Schuler, has refused to accept the autopsy’s conclusion that his wife had been drinking heavily and smoking marijuana just before the crash. He has funded further studies that are still pending and has repeatedly asserted that something else must have been wrong with his wife.
The lawyers insisted they were not accusing Daniel Schuler or anyone else. Sichol said testimony would be taken under oath from “anyone who had any dealing with Diane Schuler in the hours and days leading up to this tragedy.”
Prosecutors said Diane Schuler was responsible for the crash and that criminal charges died with her.
“We were denied a grand jury to get the answers we seek so we will get them through civil litigation,” Michael Bastardi’s daughter Roseann Guzzo said. She said the lawsuit, which does not specify an amount of damages, was not about money, but about raising awareness of drunken driving.
Daniel Schuler’s lawyer, Dominic Barbara, said the Bastardis “have a right to use whatever remedies they want for the civil damages.” He said the fact that Schuler wasn’t sued “is further proof that he really has nothing to do with this incident.”
The lawsuit claims that before they died, Michael and Guy Bastardi suffered “terror, mental anguish, and serious personal injuries” that caused them pain and suffering. Sichol said that because they were in the front seat, the Bastardis “saw what was coming.” And he said there are witnesses who say that Guy Bastardi was alive after the impact.
“One lady held him in her arms as he lay dying in the car,” Sichol said.
Another of Michael Bastardi’s daughters, Margaret Nicotina, said of Diane Schuler: “Here was a woman, she was a mother, she worked. What happened that day to turn her into a different person? That’s the mystery.”
Copyright 2009 The Associated Press.
