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HALF HOLLOW HILLS LONG ISLANDER NEWSPAPERS TELECOMMUNICATIONS/MEDIA BUSINESS OF THE YEAR
N E W S P A P E R
Copyright © 2009 Long Islander Newspapers, LLC.
Online at www.LongIslanderNews.com VOLUME TWELVE, ISSUE 52
2 SECTIONS 28 PAGES
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 25, 2010
DIX HILLS
Docs Declare Driver Incompetent Say brain damage too severe for allegedly drunk man who hit, killed teen to stand trial By Mike Koehler mkoehler@longislandernews.com
An allegedly intoxicated James Ryan crashed his motorcycle into a bicyclist and killed him last summer. Now his defense attorney is in the process of keeping him out of prison completely. Ryan was arraigned in Nassau County Court on Feb. 18, seven months after the accident that claimed the life of Dix Hills resident Matthew Scarpati. However, a pair of court-appointed psychologists said he is incompetent to stand trial due to brain damage from the crash. “He has brain damage. He can’t function on the outside,” defense attorney Edward Galison said. The accident occurred along Wantagh State Parkway on the evening of July 20. Scarpati, 19, was riding his bicycle along the bike path when a tire went flat. He moved into the shoulder to change the tire, less he block other pedestrians. Witnesses then saw Ryan’s Harley-Davidson motorcycle leave the road and strike Scarpati. Scarpati was rushed to Nassau University Medical Center and died a short time later. Ryan was taken to the same hospi-
tal and admitted into intensive care with multiple injuries. He remained unconscious and hospitalized for months after the accident. Ryan is now at Queens-Nassau Nursing Home in Far Rockaway. “He’s being treated, but I don’t know how much they can do,” the defense attorney said. Galison refused to enter a plea at Ryan’s arraignment, citing concerns he’d appear healthy, as well as part of a legal strategy. Judge Jerald Carter entered a not guilty plea after talking with the defendant in court. In the meantime, prosecutors have until March 19 to find another psychologist to examine Ryan. Should their findings conflict with the other doctors, Nassau District Attorney spokeswoman Carole Trottere said, Carter would hold a hearing. Scarpati’s family, including his mother Lynn, said they were disheartened by the lack of progress in the case. “We are certainly disappointed that we didn’t have an outcome,” she said. Matt’s close friend Danny Silver also said he was disappointed to learn about the arraignment and psychologists’ deter-
The motorcyclist police said last year rode drunk, crashed into and killed Dix Hills teen Matthew Scarpati, above, has been found incompetent to stand trial due to brain damage he sustained during the accident. mination. However, Silver was concerned that Ryan may be faking the extent of his brain damage. “They don’t know if he’s lying or not. It’s unfortunate because we don’t know if he’s just trying to get a get-out-of-jail-free card. We think he might be putting on the act,” he said. But even if Ryan has sustained serious brain damage – enough to be ruled in-
competent – Silver argued the motorcyclist still wouldn’t be punished enough. “He needs to be in jail,” he said. “He suffered the brain damage because of his mistake.” If the determination does hold up, however, there are questions about Ryan’s future. Normally defendants found incompetent are sent to a mental institution until they are cured or found competent, Gallison said. But, he added, his client’s brain damage is permanent. “In this case, he’s not crazy, he’s got a brain-damage injury the attorney said. I don’t know how they can send him to a mental institution. I don’t know what would happen, nor does anyone else yet.” Meanwhile, Silver said friends and family continue to honor Matthew’s memory. His mother is finishing the paperwork to create the Miles for Matt Foundation, while students at University of Buffalo are planning a memorial walk in the spring. A bicycle ride on the Wantagh Parkway before Memorial Day is in the works, as is a soccer tournament at one of the Half Hollow Hills high schools in June. “We’re doing plenty to honor him and raise some money for his foundation,” Silver said.
MELVILLE
Inside
Grumman Wins $26.2M Contract By Sara-Megan Walsh swalsh@longislandernews.com
Religous Groups Adapt To Changing Times
Melville Northrop Grumman workers will be building top-of-the-line defense systems for this country’s sailors. The Northrop Grumman Corporation received a $26.2-million contract from the U.S. Navy on Feb. 10. The contract calls for the production of radar systems to be built in their Melville Naval and Marine Systems Divisions facility. “This order continues our company’s strong productive working relationship we have with the Navy,” Northrop Grumman spokesman Tom Delaney said. The U.S. Naval Sea Systems Command will pay Grumman $26.2 million upfront under the fixed-price contract for four sets of its AN/SPQ-9B shipboard radar systems. “The SPQ-9B is a shipboard radar we make for a variety of naval uses,”
Melville’s Northrop Grumman has landed a major contract to produce radar systems for U.S. Navy ships, securing work for the company through fall 2011. Delaney said. He said the high-resolution XBand-based search radar set is primarily used for enhancing the detection of surface targets and tracking of small
high-speed threats, including all known projected sea-skimming antiship missiles. The radar system is also designed to detected small, fast-mov(Continued on page A25)
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