Cooperstown News Bureau

COOPERSTOWN - The family of Jessica Bass, who was killed in an automobile accident July 10 in Milford, wants the driver of the car, Edward A. Warner, to be tried in Otsego County Court.

Otsego County District Attorney William "Jack" Gibbons, however, says "a plea bargain may be appropriate in this case."

Gibbons and Otsego County Sheriff Donald Mundy disagree about whether the sheriff's department has given the district attorney enough evidence to go to court and get a conviction and lengthy prison sentence for Warner.

According to Sgt. Richard Devlin of the sheriff's department, Warner was drunk and driving erratically when he plowed into a bridge abutment on narrow Chlorinator Road.

Warner walked away from the accident.

Bass, the passenger, died.

Warner was indicted by an Otsego County grand jury on charges of second-degree manslaughter, second-degree vehicular manslaughter, criminally negligent homicide and two counts of operating a motor vehicle while under the influence of alcohol, according to court records.

Devlin said Warner's blood alcohol level that evening was .23 percent, more than twice the legal limit. Two witnesses who saw the vehicle before the crash said Warner, whose address is listed in court records as 180 County Route 26 in Cooperstown, was driving erratically, said Devlin, who investigated the accident.

"There were no skid marks before the bridge," Devlin said. "It looks like he just drove straight into the abutment."

Warner is free on bail, pending further legal action.

Bass' stepgrandfather, Stephen Estes of Oneonta, said, "We're not seeking vengeance, but I think Mr. Warner has to pay for what he has done.

"Jessica was just 23, and she left a 3-year-old son. She was not drunk, and she was not on drugs. As far as I'm concerned, Mr. Warner may as well have shot her with a gun, because by driving that drunk, he was operating the vehicle as a weapon."

What the family wants is justice: evidence presented to jurors for their determination, he said.

Phyllis Estes, Bass' grandmother, said when Bass' son, Michael, goes for a ride with relatives, "if he sees a car, he'll say. 'I think that's Mommy's car. We have to go back.'

"What do you tell him when he says that?" she said.

Bass' parents are too overwrought to be interviewed, she said.

"With Christmas approaching, this is just devastating," she said.

Gibbons said the county probation department is doing a pre-plea investigation of Warner's actions.

"A plea bargain may be appropriate in this case, in view of the evidence and also in comparison with other fatal DWI cases," he said.

Otsego County Judge Michael Coccoma has dismissed the manslaughter charge, the most serious charge against Warner, because — based on the grand jury minutes — there wasn't enough evidence to support it, Gibbons said.

"To prove vehicular manslaughter or criminally negligent homicide, I need to show more than Mr. Warner was drunk," Gibbons said. "I need to show criminal negligence, but there is no evidence that speed was a factor in this accident."

Gibbons said that no accident reconstruction, which might have helped prove criminal negligence, was done.

"By the time I got to the scene, they had cleaned it up," he said.

Mundy said photographs and measurements were taken at the scene before it was cleaned up.

"There was evidence enough to get his indictments," Mundy said. "We did our job professionally and thoroughly, and now it's time for Mr. Gibbons to do his."

Gibbons said there's a big difference between indictments and guilty verdicts.

"An indictment is reasonable cause to show a crime was committed. At trial, you have to show proof beyond a reasonable doubt on every element," Gibbons said.

"Prosecutors don't gather the evidence or make the evidence, we just present it," he added.

Warner is represented by Oneonta lawyer Richard Rothermel, who said, "Of all the clients I've represented over the years, this is the one who shows the most remorse."

Rothermel said Warner was not speeding or driving recklessly and the bridge and road conditions were horrendous that evening. The bridge has since been repaired.

"They did a nice job fixing the bridge, and if it had looked like that on the night of the accident, we would have had two people who'd bumped their heads," Rothermel said.

Warner said Friday: "I'm very messed up over this situation. I loved Jessica with all my heart. Her parents may not understand that I loved this woman, but there's not a day, not a moment that goes by that I don't think about her.

"I haven't had a drink since the accident, and I'll never drink again. I'm busted up inside, and I'll never be the same," Warner said. "I'll live with this the rest of my life. If I could trade my own life for hers, I'd do so, without hesitation."

Warner said whatever happens in court, he already has been punished by the worst that can happen to him, the death of the woman he loves.

"I pray for her every day," he said, "and I pray for her parents."

———

Tom Grace can be reached at grace@ascent.net or (607) 547-2431.