NEW ORLEANS – An Orleans Parish jury deliberated for 90 minutes before finding a Geismar man guilty of drunkenly running a red light, crashing into a truck and killing a man in the New Orleans CBD in 2016.
According to District Attorney Leon Cannizzaro’s office, 39-year-old Chad Vidrine was found guilty of vehicular homicide in the death of Joseph Sunseri on Feb. 4, 2016.
Investigators say Vidrine had a blood-alcohol content level at .121 -- more than 50 times the legal limit to drive -- when he crashed his pickup into another truck near Calliope and Annunciation streets. Sunseri, who was a passenger in the second vehicle, was tossed through a sunroof when the truck overturned. He was later pronounced dead at University Medical Center.
Police said Vidrine had bloodshot eyes, slurred speech and smelled of alcohol when he failed a field sobriety test. Vidrine argued against those tests at the trial and said a streetlight temporarily removed to allow Mardi Gras floats to pass played a part in the crash.
Vidrine faces up to 30 years in prison. He will be sentenced by Criminal District Court Judge Tracey Flemings-Davillier on Nov. 30.
