Lamberson’s lawyer to press for dismissal

By Patrick Markey

Anne Lamberson, the Derry-born ambulance driver facing manslaughter charges after the ambulance she was driving slammed into a car and killed three children in Brooklyn, is scheduled to appear in court next week as her defense lawyer plans to have the case dismissed.

Michael Dowd, Lamberson’s attorney, said he will likely submit a motion for the indictment to be dismissed on grounds of legal insufficiency on Dec. 22, when Lamberson appears at Brooklyn State Supreme Court.

Lamberson was indicted on Oct. 16 on charges of second-degree manslaughter and criminally negligent homicide charges two weeks after the private ambulance she was driving plowed into the family car driven by Angela Igwe. Three of Igwe’s young children were killed in the crash on Kings Highway in the Midwood section of Brooklyn. Igwe and her surviving 9-year-old daughter were critically injured in the accident.

Soon after her arrest, police alleged that Lamberson had sped through a red light on a non-emergency call with the ambulance lights and sirens on. Prosecutors now say that Lamberson was dispatched on a priority call when the accident occurred. Deputy District Attorney Joseph Petrosino, who is prosecuting the case, said Lamberson still acted recklessly enough to warrant the serious charges she is facing.

Lamberson pleaded not guilty when she was arraigned and formally charged in November.

The Irish media covered her arraignment extensively, focusing on Lamberson’s Derry background and a call by Nobel Prize winner John Hume for Irish officials in the United States to monitor the case.