CONCORD, N.H. — A jury on Tuesday acquitted a commercial truck driver of causing the deaths of seven motorcyclists in a horrific head-on collision in northern New Hampshire that exposed fatal flaws in the processing of license revocations across states.
Volodymyr Zhukovskyy, 26, of West Springfield, Massachusetts, was found innocent on seven counts of manslaughter, seven counts of negligent homicide and one count of reckless conduct in connection with the June 21, 2019, crash in Randolph. Jailed since the crash, he appeared to wipe away tears as the verdict was read and briefly raised his index finger skyward before leaving the courtroom.
Jurors deliberated for less than three hours after a two-week trial during which prosecutors argued that Zhukovskyy, who had taken heroin, fentanyl and cocaine that day, repeatedly swerved back and forth before the head-on crash and told police he caused it. But a judge dismissed eight charges related to whether he was impaired, and his attorneys blamed the lead biker, Albert “Woody” Mazza, who was among those killed.
In closing statements Tuesday morning, the two sides raised questions about who was more “all over the place”: the trucker accused of swerving back and forth across the road or the eyewitnesses accused of contradicting each other.
“There is no doubt that this accident was a tragedy,” said defense attorney Jay Duguay Duguay said. “But we are not here to decide whether or not this was a tragedy.”
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He drove a pickup truck. Not an effing semi. Get your shit together when reporting news about truckers. He hit one one motorcyclist and then proceeded to kill 6 more? I guess it pays to be a foreigner. I hope that ICE sends his ass back to where he came from.
The Trucker should be ashamed for this stupid story.
They didn’t say Truck, They said commercial truck driver! I guess they should have ex-truck driver .
Thx Mr. Richard for clarification on this story! I was just thinking, how would a CDL driver of a big rig not get charged! And yes I agree, there should a apology from the The Trucker giving misguided content!
This whole story is ……there are no words. Prayers for the families of the bikers. You all should sue everyone you can including the
the trucker.com
Hey Richard, the guy was a hotshot COMMERCIAL driver who just happened to be in a one ton with a long gooseneck. He held a class A. Perhaps he should not have, but he did. And, the lead biker was 2 times over the limit. Bikers often run 3 and 4 abreast and they had only moments left a bar.
He is also has legal permanent resident status from Ukraine. He cannot be deported.
If that guy kills anyone else, it’s on the juror’s and the judge’s heads.
No, Rick H, he shouldn’t have had his license in the first place. Massachusetts BS red tape and pure laziness didn’t revoke or suspend his license when they should have, thus allowing him back on the road. So I say all the blood is on the state of Massachusetts’ hands. https://www.bostonherald.com/2019/06/25/head-of-mass-rmv-erin-deveney-resigns-over-tragic-nh-fatal-crash-case/
A hot shot driver is not driving a tractor trailer but those combination vehicles get very close to being 26,001 lb. It’s not uncommon to see two vehicles in a head on collision after both were impaired. The question is how you prove the level of impairment, it should be a no Brainer, contributing to homicide.