September 03, 2004

Probation for teenage drivers in fatal car race

By Maureen Nandini Mitra  Times Herald-Record  mmitra@th-record.com

Blooming Grove – Two teens were sentenced in a closed court session yesterday for their involvement in the late-night drag racing accident that killed 17-year-old Christopher Byrnes last year.    Blooming Grove Judge James Kenealy sentenced Paul Weinberger and Douglas Carter to two years of probation and 200 hours of community service, Byrnes' mother, Patricia Byrnes, said. Their driving licenses were suspend for two years.    Since both drivers, who were 18 at the time of the accident, were awarded youthful offender status, Blooming Grove court officials wouldn't release any details about the proceedings.    Kenealy informed Byrnes' family and the defendants families about his decision in separate meetings yesterday morning.    Patricia Byrnes walked out of her meeting with the judge in tears. Christopher was the widowed mother's only son.    "This is a bunch of garbage," she said, her eyes swollen from crying, as she stood trembling outside Town Hall, supported by a friend. "This is the kind of punishment you get when you shoplift. There was no justice for Christopher.    "They [Weinberger and Carter] were young adults. You give them a [driving] license and treat them like adults and then when they kill, you treat them like they are children," she said.    Weinberger, with Byrnes in the passenger seat, and Carter were racing each other on Route 208 that April night last year when Weinberger lost control of his car. It flipped over and went off the road.    Byrnes suffered major injuries and died in a hospital two days later. Weinberger and Carter were charged with second-degree reckless endangerment and illegal speed contests, both misdemeanors.    Patricia Byrnes had wanted the two teens to be charged with criminal manslaughter and negligent homicide, both felony charges. But after reviewing the evidence earlier this year, an Orange Count grand jury settled for the two misdemeanor charges and sent the case to Blooming Grove Town Court, which delivered its verdict yesterday.    Carter's and Weinberger's attorneys didn't return calls for comment.    Patricia Byrnes, who's rarely stepped out of her home since she lost her son, called the grand jury "incompetent" and "unjust."    "He was the air in my lungs," she said later, standing in her son's carefully preserved room in their Washingtonville home.    "Home was where Christopher was, this is no longer my home," Byrnes said, brokenly. "I'll only be at peace when I'm with him again."

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