The driver in last year’s car crash outside a Voorheesville church that killed three people was indicted by an Albany County Grand Jury on Wednesday, Aug. 8.
The Albany County District Attorney’s Office said LuAnn Burgess, 55, was charged with felony aggravated vehicular homicide, vehicular manslaughter and three counts of criminally negligent homicide. The charges were leveled nearly one year after the crash took place. She will also be charged with misdemeanor counts of reckless driving and driving while ability impaired by the combined influence of drugs, along with other traffic violations.
`The Grand Jury’s decision was the final piece to the nearly yearlong investigation by this office into one of the most tragic and complex motor vehicle crashes in this county’s history,` said Albany County District Attorney David Soares in a statement. `The investigation leading up to this presentation required the cooperation and coordination of multiple agencies, both local and out of state.”
On Aug. 10, 2011, Burgess was dropping off her 6-year-old son at Voorheesville Elementary School and began to head east on Mountainview Street toward home, according to then Albany County Acting Sheriff Craig Apple. According to police, her flip-flop sandal fell off near the gas pedal, leading her to lose control of the SUV and strike three elderly women standing in front of St. Matthew’s Roman Catholic Church.
It was later discovered through a round of toxicology reports that Burgess allegedly had several medications in her system at the time of the crash that were being used to treat an illness. The District Attorney’s Office did not go into detail about how the presence of those drugs will play into the case against Burgess.
“As this is an open case, our office is not legally able to discuss the specific results of any testing that contributed to the charges in the indictment,” said Albany County DA spokeswoman Cecilia Louge.
The three women standing outside the church were Carol Lansing, 66, of Green Island, Rosmarie Hume, 79, of Waterford and Frances C. Pallozzi, 89, of Waterford. They were a part of the Empire State Volksporters, a group of nearly 50 hikers in the Capital District who Apple had said would normally walk in that area on Wednesdays. They were waiting for a friend who had stopped into the church to go to the bathroom when the car careened across the church lawn and struck them.
Attorneys Larry Rosen and Cheryl Coleman, who are both representing Burgess, released a statement on the indictment and said they do not feel Burgess will be convicted.
“We do not believe that Ms. Burgess committed any crimes. A tragic accident occurred a year ago and it was an accident, not a crime,” it read in part.
The District Attorney’s Office called investigation `exhaustive` and said the charges are the result of `countless man hours dedicated to witness interviews, collision investigation and reconstruction analysis, toxicology inquiry and exploration, and a thorough assessment of potential legal matters associated with the presentation of this case to a Grand Jury.`
`This office appreciates the families’ understanding during what can only be considered an extremely trying process and hopes that the Grand Jury’s decision today brings them some sense of closure,` said Soares in a statement.
Burgess was released on her own recognizance.
