An accident reconstruction expert testified in the vehicular homicide case
HACKENSACK -- An accident reconstruction expert said one of the two men charged in a road-rage accident that killed a woman in 2012 was likely going faster than 75 mph.
John Emili, of New City, N.Y., is charged with vehicular homicide in the death of Anetta Billingy of Teaneck. Emili was driving Billingy, 63, to church on July 1, 2012.
Emili, who was driving a Honda Pilot, and Thomas Vanderweit, a Saddle Brook man who was driving a Chevy Tahoe, were weaving through traffic in close proximity before Emili crashed, police have said. Billingy was thrown from Emili's vehicle and later died.
6-year-sentence in fatal road rage crash
New Jersey State Police Sgt. Derek DiStaso, an accident reconstruction expert who worked on the case, said in court Wednesday that Emili swerved to avoid Vanderweit's Chevy after he suddenly braked in the area of Washington Township. He calculated that Emili was going at least 75 mph beforehand, and was likely going much faster.
Emili swerved into the right lane and lost control as he tried to veer back left, DiStaso said. The Honda began to spin before crashing into the left guard rail, launching Billingy out of the car and across the highway.
The Honda overturned as it bounced off the guard rail, and collided with Vanderweit's Chevy, which was slowing down in the right shoulder, DiStaso said. The crash knocked the Chevy into the right guard rail, while the Honda righted itself and slowly wheeled into the guard rail as well, a few feet ahead.
A jury found Vanderweit guilty of vehicular homicide in November. He's been sentenced to six years in prison.
Raymond Flood, the attorney for Emili, blamed Vanderweit for causing the accident in his opening argument Tuesday. Flood asked DiStaso, a witness for the Bergen County Prosecutor's Office, if the crash would have happened without Vanderweit's sudden braking.
"It contributed to the crash," DiStaso said. "It's not the sole cause of the crash."
Kevin Roy, a West Nyack man heading home from the shore at the time of the crash, testified that he saw both cars weaving in and out of traffic after one of the vehicles cut the other off.
The prosecution rested after DiStaso's testimony. The case is expected to resume Tuesday morning.
