NEW ORLEANS — The man accused of killing two bicycle riders and injuring seven others on Esplanade Avenue during Carnival is close to a plea deal.
Tashonty Toney, 32, appeared in court Wednesday morning as his attorney, Ralph Whalen, indicated he is prepared to plead guilty to all charges against him, which include two counts of vehicular homicide and seven counts of vehicular injury.
The one sticking point to completing a plea agreement is the calculation of Toney’s blood-alcohol level at the time police say he plowed into a pack of bicyclists along Esplanade Avenue on the night of the Endymion parade.
Toney’s blood-alcohol level registered .14 when investigators obtained a search warrant to draw his blood five hours after the crash.
Whalen told Criminal Court Judge Laurie White he would stipulate that the number would have been at least .15 at the time of the accident, but he was not prepared to go along with the prosecution’s determination that it would have registered above .20.
Shortly after the crash, investigators used scientific extrapolation to determine that Toney would have registered a blood-alcohol level of .215 if he had been tested immediately. Assistant District Attorney Jason Napoli said his office has contacted a toxicology expert to write a report supporting that extrapolation.
Toney faces a sentencing range of 10 to 90 years in prison regardless of the blood-alcohol calculation, but the lower number would make him eligible for additional “good time” he could use to shorten his time behind bars.
A 10-year minimum sentence would be required because each count of vehicular comes with a 5-to-30 year sentence, and those sentences must run consecutively is a defendant is convicted of two or more counts.
Prosecutors agreed to return to court on August 1 with the expert’s toxicology report to try and finalize a plea agreement. If the deal falls through, a trial is set for August 26 before Judge White.
Toney waived his right to a jury trial.