MAYVILLE – A former Lakewood man will find out his fate next month if he will head to prison or be found not guilty from the charges against him in causing an accident that killed the life of a child. Thursday, Judge Paul Wojtaszek heard closing arguments in the case of Nicholas Mineweaser, who has been charged with second-degree vehicular manslaughter and driving while ability impaired by drugs.

On Feb. 24, 2020, Mineweaser rear ended a vehicle on Route 60 in the town of Pomfret, driven by Shanna Wilcox of Cassadaga, which caused that vehicle to be struck by a tractor trailer. Her 7-year-old daughter Emmaline perished in the accident. The prosecution believes Mineweaser was under the influence of marijuana while he was operating his vehicle.

The trial began Nov. 1 in Mayville with District Attorney Jason Schmidt serving as the lead prosecutor and attorney Michael Dwan representing the defense. The trial has been on delay since Nov. 12 due to new evidence that was admitted by the defense, stating that Mineweaser had sustained injuries in an automobile accident in 2016, which may have impacted his ability to perform some of the field sobriety tests.

During court Thursday, Schmidt said after reviewing the new evidence, he was not going to bring any new individuals to testify in court, saying that he would address the issues in closing.

DEFENSE

Dwan began the closing arguments for his client first. He started by complimenting the Wilcox family, the court and Schmidt’s office for its professionalism. Then for the next hour he discussed various issues and flaws he found in the trial.

One by one, he went over the testimony of every individual who testified in the trial. The prosecution had 13 different people testify over six days. He stated that citizen witnesses of the crash offered no insight on Mineweaser. He made the same arguments of the emergency medical technicians who were called to the scene, saying their testimonies gave little evidence of guilt or innocence.

He called one trooper’s testimony “innocuous,” saying he failed to prove that his client was using marijuana while operating his vehicle. The tow truck driver noted he could smell marijuana in Mineweaser’s vehicle four hours after the crash, even though the window and car door had been opened for four hours.

Dwan used this argument to say that when officers stated they smelled burned marijuana, they were merely smelling remnants of the drug.

Mineweaser’s ex-girlfriend and his mother both testified that the suspect was a regular user of marijuana and would often smoke the drug in his vehicle in a parking lot. “That odor doesn’t go away,” Dwan said.

Mineweaser’s ex-girlfriend Nina Spencer was subpoenaed by the prosecution. During her testimony, she shared that on the day of the crash the two of them smoked marijuana in the morning and she gave Mineweaser some buds to replace what they smoked. Later that day when Mineweaser was involved in the accident, he told Spencer that he threw the buds she gave him into a puddle.

Dwan argued that if Mineweaser was concerned about getting caught with marijuana, he would have also gotten rid of the burned marijuana cigarette found in the front of his vehicle.

“If he had been smoking a blunt that day he would have ditched it into a puddle, like he did with the buds,” Dwan said.

The biggest testimony that Dwan criticized was that of Elizabeth Spratt, a forensic toxicology consultant from Westchester County. Dwan called her “Nancy Reagan” saying that she is biased against marijuana use of any kind and travels around New York collecting tax dollars for her testimony. He called her court appearance “bunk science” and said she never cited her sources during her testimony, instead saying she relies on her wealth of knowledge.

“Ms. Spratt’s entire outlook is not based on science,” he said. “She’s a terrible witness. It was a waste of $15,000.”

In the end, Dwan believes the accident should be blamed on Route 60 itself. He notes that the road has had 82 deaths in the past 50 years. He argued that vehicles are driving too fast on a road without a turning lane. “I hope after this case, something is done with Route 60,” he said.

Dwan believes his client was arrested because society wants someone to blame when a child dies. “It wasn’t Mrs. Wilcox’s fault but it wasn’t Nick’s fault either,” he said. As he wrapped up his closing arguments, one of the Wilcox family members got up and left court, tears coming down his face.

PROSECUTION

Following a short break after the defense, Schmidt began his closing, which also lasted more than an hour. He started by saying how in the last 50 years, there have been well over 100 million vehicles on Route 60. If 82 people had died, that would only be a fraction of the drivers. He added that on Feb. 24, 2020, there were 7,000 drivers on the road that day, but only one fatality.

“Route 60 is inherently dangerous. Driving is inherently dangerous. Driving at close to highway speeds is inherently dangerous. But driving while you’re stoned – marijuana can kill and that’s what happened here,” he said.

Schmidt raised his voice and stated that Mineweaser “plowed into the back of Mrs. Wilcox car” which caused her vehicle to be struck by a tractor trailer coming the opposite direction, taking Emmaline’s life. Schmidt argued that marijuana use slows one’s reaction speed. That’s why Mineweaser didn’t come close to stopping in time or turning away from hitting Wilcox’s vehicle.

“Emmaline’s death was the result of his negligence,” he said. Schmidt noted that on this section of Route 60, there were no hills, no shifting traffic patterns. The road was dry and there was plenty of daylight.

Mineweaser regularly traveled on the road from his former apartment in Lakewood to Erie County where his mother lived, so he was familiar with the state road. “This isn’t Buffalo; this is Chautauqua County. It’s farmland,” he said.

Schmidt asked the judge to consider the testimony of all the law enforcement who shared that Mineweaser appeared to be under the influence of drugs, the knowledge of a toxicology expert, and the blood samples that showed evidence of marijuana in his system. “If you believe all of this evidence of impairment … then you have no choice but to find this defendant guilty,” he said.

The Mineweaser case is a bench trial and does not have a jury. After the two sides gave their closing arguments, Wojtaszek said he would review the evidence and the transcripts before making his ruling. He plans on returning to Chautauqua County and announcing his decision in early January.