From the NY Times’ City Room blog, Sept. 8:
Officer Resigns, Then Pleads Guilty to Manslaughter
An off-duty police officer who struck and killed a woman in Brooklyn in 2009 pleaded guilty in Brooklyn Supreme Court on Wednesday to second-degree vehicular manslaughter. According to the terms of the plea agreement, the officer, Andrew Kelly, will serve 90 days in jail and receive five years probation.Mr. Kelly also resigned from the New York Police Department on Friday, said to his lawyer, Arthur Aidala.
According to the police, Mr. Kelly was driving a sport utility vehicle about 1 a.m. on Sept. 27 in the Mill Basin neighborhood when it struck and killed Vionique Valnord-Kassime, 32, who was hailing a taxi at the time.
In the hours after the accident, Mr. Kelly refused to submit to a blood alcohol test, and a blood test performed under subpoena seven hours later showed no alcohol in his system.
But in court on Wednesday, Mr. Kelly admitted that he was intoxicated when he struck Ms. Valnord-Kassime, who had just attended a wedding reception. In a press conference outside the courtroom, Mr. Aidala said Mr. Kelly pleaded guilty to avoid a trial and to “close this chapter” of his life.
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