A year after the deadly drunk-driving crash in which a Long Island mother drove the wrong way down Taconic State Parkway and collided with an SUV—killing four children in her car, herself, and three adults in the SUV—the involved families are arguing over a forthcoming HBO documentary about the tragic event.
The New York Post reports that Daniel Schuler, the husband of the drunk driver, was offered $100,000 by a Brooklyn-based production company, which prompted the family of Guy and Michael Bastardi, two of the men riding in the SUV, to say they would sue if Schuler profited from the film.
Schuler’s lawyer Dominic Barbara said that all the money would go into a trust for Schuler’s son Bryan, the only survivor of the crash that occurred on July 26, 2009. Barbara added that the production company, Moxie Firecracker Films, plans to pay to have Diane Schuler’s body exhumed and re-examined, as husband Daniel wants to try to prove that she was not impaired by alcohol and marijuana when the accident occurred. The initial autopsy showed that Schuler had undigested alcohol in her stomach at the time of the crash, and a bottle of vodka was found near the crash site.
The Bastardi family has filed a wrongful-death lawsuit against the estate of Diane Schuler, and their lawyer, Irving Anolik, said the film could violate the state’s Son of Sam Law, which keeps criminals (and in some cases their family and friends) from profiting off their crimes. Anolik said the Bastardis are waiting to get more information about the documentary before proceeding.
Sources: The New York Daily News, Matthew Lysiak, Trevor Kapp, and Bill Hutchinson, Families Fight Over Planned HBO Film of Taconic Death Driver Diane Schuler on Anniversary of Tragedy, July 27, 2010
The Daily Record, Aman Ali and Jorge Fitz-Gibbon, Family may sue if husband exhumes wife’s body in Taconic crash, July 28, 2010
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