A young man charged with causing the death of a teenage girl in an illegal street race crash on the outskirts of Napier 18 months ago has been found guilty.
The verdict against Matthew Kevin O'Sullivan was delivered in the Napier District Court yesterday, about three hours after the jury of nine women and three men retired to deliberate on the third day of a trial before Judge Jonathan Down.
Napier's O'Sullivan, who turned 21 in April, had denied one charge of causing the death of Maree Schafer, 18, and another of causing injury to a passenger in the crash on Sandy Rd, Meeanee, on the night of February 19 last year. O'Sullivan was the driver of a Ford Falcon racing a Holden Commodore carrying Ms Schafer and the other passenger, and driven by Brandon Lawrence.
Having raced at speeds exceeding 180km/h on Awatoto Rd, on Napier's southern boundary, O'Sullivan slowed at the intersection of Meeanee Rd, but Lawrence accelerated, lost control and hit a tree. Lawrence later admitted causing the death and injury, but, O'Sullivan pleaded not guilty to the charges of being a party to the offences.
Defence counsel Scott Jefferson argued O'Sullivan had braked and slowed down well before the intersection and should not be held responsible for the actions of the other driver.
Judge Down said among the issues for the jury was where the race was to have ended and pointed to a statement by O'Sullivan to police the intersection was the finish line.
O'Sullivan was remanded to appear for sentence in court on September 19. Late last year, Lawrence, 19, Adam O'Sullivan, 17, and Jesse Ellmers, 18, were each sentenced to two years and three months' imprisonment for their involvement and disqualified from driving for four years. Appeals by Adam O'Sullivan and Jesse Ellmers were dismissed by a judge in the High Court in April.