Bill wrote:
Speed killed, driver admits
Joshua Paniccia struck bicyclist while going over 80 mph; faces
1 to 3
years

By DENNIS YUSKO, Staff writer
First published: Wednesday, March 16, 2005

BALLSTON SPA -- An 18-year-old Niskayuna man admitted in court
on
Tuesday that he hit and killed a bicyclist while speeding at more
than 80
mph after a friend in another vehicle last June.
Joshua Paniccia pleaded guilty to criminally negligent homicide
in
Saratoga County Court, a felony, and will be sentenced to 1 to 3
years in
prison on June 6 for causing the death of David Ryan, 32. A separate
charge
of second-degree manslaughter was dropped. That charge carried a jail
term
of up to 15 years.

Prosecutors required Paniccia to detail his actions of June 29,
when
he lost control of his 2002 Nissan Sentra going east on Riverview
Road in
Rexford and smashed into Ryan, a General Electric physicist from
England who
was traveling west on an after-work bike ride.

"I was driving my vehicle on a road a little too fast and hit
and
killed Mr. Ryan," Paniccia told the court. Asked by Saratoga County
Assistant District Attorney Jim Davis if he was chasing another
vehicle,
Paniccia replied, "I was catching up to someone." When asked if he
traveling
in excess of 80 mph, he replied, "Yes."

Riverview Road's speed limit is 45 mph. The State Police Crash
Reconstruction Unit estimated Paniccia was traveling at least 83 mph
at the
time of impact, Davis said.

"I think 83 mph is more than a little fast," District Attorney
James
A. Murphy III said afterward. He called the plea the first one in
Saratoga
County involving street racing and a fatal crash.

"We held Mr. Paniccia accountable for his criminal conduct,"
Murphy
said. The manslaughter charge was hard to prove because the case did
not
involve drugs or alcohol, and prosecutors could not establish that a
speed
contest took place, Murphy said. The conviction sends a message that
drivers
must obey the speed limit, he said.

Paniccia could have received 1 to 4 years under the charge he
pleaded
to. Ryan's parents, Tom and Anne Ryan, who live in England and did
not
attend the proceeding, disapproved of the agreement in a prepared
statement.

"We feel that a four-year sentence would only be a token and
any less
would cause us considerable grief. Not only was David young, but he
was
achieving outstanding results for GE, so much so that a project on
which he
was working has been named after him by his colleagues. As a family,
we miss
him so much."

"He elected to enter that plea and accept responsibility for
the
situation," Paniccia's attorney Charles Wilcox said. "It's not a
happy day
for either family."

Paniccia left the courtroom without a comment, sheltered by his
father
from television cameras. Judge Jerry J. Scarano said he would
consider
youthful offender status in the case. If granted, his criminal record
would
be sealed after he serves his time, Murphy said.

The teen also must pay $320 in court fees.

Just 10 days prior to the fatal accident, Niskayuna police
ticketed
Paniccia for road racing, speeding and misuse of dealer license
plates,
prosecutors said. Police in Colonie and Schenectady had also ticketed
Paniccia for speeding.

He was acquitted on the road racing charge, and two of his
speeding
tickets were pleaded down to traffic and moving violations, according
to
court papers.

State cycling groups and Ryan's friends turned the case into
campaigns
for safer roads and eliminating the pleading down of speeding tickets
to
non-moving violations. Walter Ciccha, one of Ryan's best friends and
colleagues, said Tuesday that he would continue lobbying the state
Legislature for changes.

"Parents have to take more responsibility for what their kids
are
doing," Ciccha said. "This was preventable and I want to make sure it
bloody
doesn't happen again."


http://www.timesunion.com/aspstories...StoryID=342295


What are we supposed to say about this article? In your opinion what
type of sentence should the 18 year old receive? We just had an
incident in our town where a young man ran down another young man while
recklessly speeding. One boy is dead and one boy's life is ruined
forever. They were friends. They were fooling around, it turned tragic.
Both the parents of the victim and the parents of the boy charged with
the crime are grieving. My son knew both of them.

In my opinion both lost their "children" forever. One buried, one now
in jail. If he serves one year or 100 years, he has to remember the
night he killed his friend. Both so young. They were friends, they
were acting like fools, in one moment so many people suffered. This was
not malicious intent. It was stupidity that leaves a legacy of pain for
all involved.

What should happen to the 18 year old that would make anything right
again for anyone? What should be his punishment?
Maggie