Plea is firm for Schmitz for Ransomville teen accused in double fatal accident

LOCKPORT â€" The deal on the table, is the deal.

That was the message Tuesday to the defense team for John Schmitz from prosecutors and the families of two Niagara County teenagers who were killed in a grinding, one-car crash.

The families huddled with Niagara County District Attorney Michael Violante and Assistant DA Theodore Brenner for 45 minutes after lawyers for Schmitz, the driver of the death car, asked for a better offer in return for a guilty plea in the case.

When the meeting ended, Brenner told Niagara County Court Judge Sara Sheldon Sperrazza there was no change in the plea deal that was first offered to Schmitz in late May.

“The plea offer is as it was,” Brenner said. “The defendant would plead guilty to two D felonies of attempted reckless manslaughter and waive his right to appeal.”

Defense attorney Sunil Bakshi told Sperrazza he needed a little more time to consult with Schmitz, his family and a team of defense accident reconstruction experts. Sperrazza agreed to the delay because pre-trial hearings in the case are on hold while a key prosecution witness is on active military duty in Afghanistan.

“It’s something that myself, my client and his family will have to consider,” Bakshi said of the plea offer.

Bakshi had pushed hard for a better deal, saying his experts do not agree with police investigators on issues ranging from the speed that Schmitz was driving at to whether the brakes on his car were good.

“Our experts looked at the issues of speed and (the condition of the) brakes,” Bakshi said. “After my initial reading of their report, I have concerns about my client’s (responsibility) on what he’s been indicted for.”

Schmitz, 19, of Porter Center Road, has pleaded not guilty to two counts of criminally negligent homicide and two counts of second-degree manslaughter along with a number of vehicle and traffic law violations in the deaths of Jeremy Campbell and Taylor Messing.

Investigators charge that Schmitz was at the wheel of his Chrysler Concorde and driving west in the 2000 block of Youngstown-Lockport Road on Sept. 25, when he apparently swerved to avoid hitting another vehicle that was stopped and waiting to turn left toward the Baker Farms produce stand.

The car careened off the road and struck several shrubs and rocks before slamming into two trees with the brunt of the impact on the rear driver’s side door. Campbell, 19, of Youngstown, and Messing, 17, of Niagara Falls, who were sitting in the rear seat of the car and close to the door, were both rushed to Mount St. Mary’s Hospital where they were pronounced dead on arrival.

Messing’s mother, Kat, told reporters that police investigators have estimated Schmitz’s speed at 113 mph. The defense experts have reportedly pegged Schmitz’s speed at 75 mph in what is a posted 55 mph speed zone.

“We believe that the speed was not as high as the police investigators believe it is,” Bakshi said. “Our experts do not support (the police) conclusions.”

Messing said prosecutors asked the victims’ families if they would consider a plea offer to an E felony like criminally negligent homicide.

“My family, as well as the family of (Jeremy Campbell) has decided to (insist) on a D felony,” Messing said. “We agree we’re comfortable where we’re at.”

Schmitz remains free on his own recognizance  while his case is pending. He has been barred by Sperrazza from driving a car.

Brenner has said Schmitz was driving at a high rate of speed in a car with “bad brakes,” that he knew the vehicle’s brakes were faulty and “was aware of the risks” of operating his car in that condition.

Alcohol and/or drugs were not a factor in the crash.

After the crash, Schmitz was hospitalized for serious injuries, but has since recovered from them. Two other passengers in Schmitz’’ car, Keith Burns, 17, of Ransomville and an unidentified 15-year-old girl suffered minor injuries in the crash.