WOBURN, MASS. (WHDH) - Closing arguments were made Thursday in the trial of a man accused of killing two people when he crashed into a Newton restaurant in 2016.
Bradford Casler, 57, could be heard sobbing as his attorney addressed jurors for the last time in closing arguments.
“Because there’s a death does not mean someone has to be criminally responsible for it,” defense attorney Thomas Gilbin said.
Gilbin told the jury that after five days of testimony, they know what happened March 1, 2016, when Casler’s car crashed into Sweet Tomatoes restaurant, killing Gregory Morin and Eleanor Miele and injuring seven others.
“The only reason why it happened was put forth by Mr. Casler and that was the only question that needed to be answered,” Gilbin said.
The defense said a multiple sclerosis specialist confirmed Casler suffered a sudden medical emergency because of his disease.
“His cognitive deficiencies caused him to lose sensation and control of that vehicle,” Gilbin said.
He called it an unavoidable accident. Casler had a valid license at the time.
“They had no evidence that anyone told Mr. Casler he shouldn’t be driving,” Gilbin said.
But the prosecutor instructed jurors to remember that Casler told an EMT on the scene he did not have an MS flare.
“It wasn’t MS,” prosecutor Christopher Tarrant said. “It was Brad Casler that caused this crash.”
Tarrant told jurors Casler reported having symptoms of MS to a nurse months before the crash.
“These afflictions were known to him well before March 2016, and he chose to ignore them, and this decision determined who lived and who died,” Tarrant said before putting up pictures of Morin and Miele.
“Mr. Casler wants you to believe and conclude that this crash was not his fault because no one told him he shouldn’t drive a car,” Tarrant said. “It’s nobody else’s fault. He’s a grown man. It was his choice to drive the car.”
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