Man on trial in Schenectady hit-run accidents that killed one, injured another

Adimu Goodwin made his choices nearly a year ago on State Street, a prosecutor said Tuesday.

Goodwin hit one man with his van and chose to leave him seriously injured in the street without reporting the crash to police, prosecutor Stephanie Hughes told a judge.

Goodwin then chose to drive recklessly as he fled, only to hit another pedestrian — Jerry Faine — blocks away. Faine died; the first pedestrian survived.

Goodwin fled that scene, too, dragging the 29-year-old Faine for more than a block before hitting a curb and eventually fleeing on foot.

“This case is about choices,” Hughes told Judge Frank P. Milano in opening statements of Goodwin’s assault and manslaughter trial, “the choices the defendant Adimu Goodwin made August 14, 2015.”

Goodwin, 42, of Schenectady, is standing trial this week in Schenectady County Court on a host of charges, including first-degree assault, second-degree manslaughter and leaving the scene of a serious injury accident and fatal accident.

Attorneys for both sides gave their opening statements Tuesday to Milano, who is hearing the case without a jury. In a trial that is expected to come down to the legal intricacies of the more-serious counts of first-degree assault and second-degree manslaughter, Goodwin opted for a non-jury trial.

Hughes told of how Goodwin drove around the city in the hours before the crashes, stopping at friends’ houses and spending time at a practice session for a youth football team he coached, until the practice was cut short by weather.

Afterward, Goodwin drove west on State Street near the Imperial Motel as 61-year-old Donald Shaffer pushed a red shopping cart across State Street. Goodwin slammed into him, Hughes said. Goodwin is not charged with wrongdoing in connection with hitting Shaffer, only with leaving the scene after doing so.

Goodwin immediately made a U-turn and headed east past the accident scene. He passed at least one car and drove in excess of 50 mph in the 30 mph zone as witnesses followed him.

Near the Dollar General at Swan Street, Goodwin passed a vehicle on the right side and slammed into Faine, who was walking by, the prosecutor said.

Faine’s body lodged on the van and was dragged a short distance, until the van hit a curb on Waldorf Place about a block away and the body was dislodged. Goodwin turned down Waldorf to the end and fled into Vale Cemetery on foot. He surrendered to police days later.

A family-kept memorial to Faine is now affixed to a utility pole at that intersection.

Goodwin is represented by attorney Cheryl Coleman. She focused Tuesday on the technicalities of whether Goodwin is guilty of first-degree assault or second-degree manslaughter.

She conceded Goodwin drove the van that night with a suspended license. She also conceded that Goodwin left the scene of both accidents without reporting them.

But she argued that Goodwin’s actions don’t meet the legal requirements necessary for either the assault or manslaughter counts.

The assault count is based on the prosecution argument that Goodwin struck Faine in the course of committing another felony, namely leaving the scene of a serious injury accident involving Shaffer. If convicted of that count, he would face up to 25 years in prison.

Coleman argued that felony leaving the scene can’t be used as a basis for such an assault count. Even if it could, she argued that Goodwin hadn’t yet left the scene of the first accident.

She pointed to the witnesses who followed Goodwin after the crash, and argued they were actually chasing him. She argued that drivers in accidents must stop when reasonably able to do so, but said Goodwin feared for his safety at that point.

“At that point in time, it was not practical for him to have stopped,” Coleman argued.

Coleman also noted that the quickest way to flee would be to keep going straight. Goodwin turned around, indicating an intent to stop, until he became the target of the chase.

Regarding the manslaughter count, Coleman noted there is no allegation of alcohol or drug involvement. Without those, Coleman argued prosecutors will have to prove conscious disregard for the risk of death, and said they will not be able to do so.

Goodwin remains in custody in lieu of $50,000 bail.

Reach Gazette reporter Steven Cook at 395-3122, [email protected] or @ByStevenCook on Twitter.