NH holds a hearing on Volodymyr Zhukovskyy’s driving privileges

In 2022, a jury acquitted him of criminal charges in the case, although Zhukvoskyy did not take the witness stand during his trial.

The administrative hearing was held in a state Division of Motor Vehicles auditorium in Concord, NH, where family and friends of some of the crash victims listened during the four-hour proceeding.

Afterward, Manny Ribeiro, a Jarheads member who was riding his motorcycle in the procession when the crash occurred in Randolph on June 21, 2019, said he hopes the state denies Zhukovskyy’s request to return to driving.

Zhukovskyy poses a risk to others on the road, he said.

“All of you who are in this room today, you are all in danger if this man starts driving again,” Ribeiro said.

The hearing officer, Ryan McFarland, of the New Hampshire Department of Safety’s Bureau of Hearings, said he has 15 cases days to make a decision.

Attorney David Hilts, who represents the state, said he opposes Zhukovskyy’s request to resume driving in New Hampshire and wants him banned from driving a motor vehicle in the state for seven years. Gov. Christopher Sununu also opposes Zhukovskyy’s request to reinstate his driving privileges in New Hampshire, a spokesman said Tuesday.

Zhukovskyy, who moved to the US at age 10 and has permanent resident status, faces separate deportation proceedings.

His testimony began about halfway through the proceedings when he answered questions from his attorney, Earl Wingate III, and Hilts.

Wearing glasses and a white polo shirt, Zhukovskyy said on the night of the crash he was driving his pickup truck up a hill and steering the vehicle to the right to follow a curve in the road, when he saw a motorcycle coming from the opposite saw approaching direction.

“I saw a motorcycle coming towards me and hit the brakes,” Zhukovskyy said. “It was in my travel lane.”

Wingate asked him if he was impaired at the time of the crash. Zhukovskyy has acknowledged taking cocaine, heroin and fentanyl the morning of the crash, but said he was no longer under the influence of drugs when the crash occurred around 10½. hours later.

“Did you feel the effects of alcohol or drugs at all at the time of this accident?” Wingate asked.

“Absolutely not,” said Zhukovskyy.

During cross-examination, Zhukovskyy sparred with Hilts. He questioned the credibility of witnesses interviewed by investigators and claimed he did not understand Hilts’ questions about Zhukovskyy’s experiences with drug withdrawal.

“The first thing I ask you is: you take more drugs so you don’t crash, right?” Hilts asked.

Zhukovskyy responded that he did not understand Hilts’ use of the word “crash.”

“Is that a scientific term? What kind of term is that?” Zhukovskyy asked.

During his criminal trial, Zhukovskyy’s attorneys blamed the lead motorcyclist, Albert “Woody” Mazza Jr., 59, of Lee, NH. The defense highlighted evidence showing that Mazza, president of the Jarheads Motorcycle Club, had been drinking Coors Light. before driving onto the road and subsequently losing control of his motorcycle, causing the collision. According to court testimony, Mazza’s blood alcohol level was .135, well above the legal driving limit of .08.

On Wednesday, Hilts said Mazza and Zhukovskyy “materially contributed to the accident.” Both drivers breached the double; yellow dividing line on the highway, and both were driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs, he said.

Zhukovskyy’s request to resume driving in New Hampshire depends on whether the state proves by a “preponderance of the evidence” that he “caused or materially contributed to the fatal crash” by unlawfully or recklessly operating a vehicle, as the files show. The standard of proof is lower than the burden in criminal cases where prosecutors must prove guilt beyond reasonable doubt.

McFarland has the authority to decide whether Zhukovskyy can resume driving in New Hampshire, but cannot deal with the restrictions he faces from driver licensing agencies in other states, including Massachusetts. Zhukovskyy obtained a Massachusetts driver’s license in 2013 and obtained a commercial license in 2018, records show. At the time of the 2019 crash, he lived in West Springfield, Massachusetts. It is unclear where he lives now.

The 2019 crash exposed years of failures by officials in Massachusetts, who failed to take action on two issues in the weeks before the collision. warning notices from Connecticut to revoke Zhukovskyy’s commercial driver’s license.

Connecticut officials informed their counterparts in Massachusetts that Zhukovskyy’s license should be suspended after he refused to take a drug test on May 11, 2019. The refusal led to an automatic suspension of the permit. Officials in Windsor, Connecticut, asked him to submit to the test after arresting him on charges of operating a motor vehicle under the influence of alcohol or drugs.

Zhukovskyy has pleaded not guilty in the Connecticut case, which is still pending.

It is unclear whether Zhukovskyy is legally authorized to drive in Massachusetts. A spokesperson for the Registry said the agency “cannot review an individual for reinstatement of a Massachusetts credential until all out-of-state violations have been resolved.”

Jeorge Cymon, the spokesman, declined to comment on the status of Zhukovskyy’s driver’s license in Massachusetts, saying that under a state law allowing undocumented immigrants to obtain driver’s licenses that took effect last July, the Register “is unable to is” to provide information about Massachusetts drivers.

Zhukovskyy is also deported. Zhukovskyy, a Ukrainian citizen who came to the United States as a child, was ordered deported in February 2023, John Mohan, a spokesman for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, said Tuesday.

But it is unclear under what circumstances immigration officials would enforce the deportation order for Zhukovskyy, given the ongoing war in Ukraine, which was invaded by Russian forces in 2022. The US has granted temporary protected status to Ukrainian citizens and halted their removal to that country by April of next year.

Laura Crimaldi can be reached at [email protected]. follow her @lauracrimaldi.