Limo service operator in 2018 crash that killed 20 people blames repair shop before jury gets case

A criminal trial stemming from one of the deadliest U.S. road wrecks of the past two decades went to a jury Tuesday. Nauman Hussain, who ran Prestige Limousine, is charged with criminally negligent homicide and second-degree manslaughter in connection with the deaths of 20 people in the 2018 wreck of a stretch SUV limousine in upstate New York.

Jurors are being asked to decide whether Hussain is guilty of one of the charges. During closing statements before deliberations began, his lawyer argued Hussain tried his best to repair and maintain the stretch limo.

Prosecutors say the brakes failed to stop the heavy vehicle as it hurtled down a hill, went off the road, and hit a parked car and trees before stopping in a streambed in Schoharie, a village west of Albany.

Seventeen passengers, the driver and two bystanders died in the crash. The limo was packed with revelers for a woman’s 30th birthday, including her husband of four months, her three sisters, two of their husbands and her brother-in-law.

Jurors deliberated for just under two hours Tuesday before heading home for the evening. Their discussions were due to continue Wednesday morning.  

On Tuesday, defense lawyer Lee Kindlon blamed the crash on Mavis Discount Tires, a repair shop that Hussain routinely used.

“Hussain had true belief that he had repaired the brake system, that the brakes were in fine and working order,” Kindlon told jurors. “The people could not prove that Nauman Hussain knew or even should have known that Mavis falsified the repair maintenance and safety inspections.”

Lawyers for Mavis, which is not on trial but is being sued by the families of the victims, deny the repair shop is at fault.  

Special prosecutor Frederick Rench said Hussain intentionally failed to follow the maintenance regulations for the 2001 Ford Excursion. Rench said that if Hussain had done routine state vehicle inspections, as required, it would’ve revealed brake defects and prevented the wreck.

Family members of the crash victims wiped away tears as Rench read off the names of those killed in his closing statements.

During opening statements last week, prosecutors and Kindlon made similar arguments about the case. Witnesses called to the stand by prosecutors during the trial included a former Mavis manager, people who witnessed the crash, and a state Department of Transportation inspector who flagged the SUV-style limousine for violations long before the crash took place. The defense called no witnesses.

The trial comes after a judge threw out a plea deal last fall that would have spared Hussain prison time.