Whilby Granted Bail in Pena Murder Case; Judge Sets 250K Cash Requirement

Domonic Whilby, whose drunken joyride in a stolen truck caused the death of Bus Operator William Pena in February of 2014, was granted bail in a Manhattan courtroom after 17 months of incarceration. The decision to set a $500,000 bond for Whilby, which can also be satisfied by $250,000 in cash, came over the objections of ADA Randolph Clarke, who called Whilby a flight risk due to the severity of the charges, which carry a potential penalty of life in prison. Judge Gregory Carro set September 14th as the next court date, which will likely see the beginning of the trial process. Nancy Rodriguez, William Pena’s widow, said that she will be notified by the DA’s office if and when Whilby makes bail. TWU Local 100 President John Samuelsen wrote a strongly-worded letter to Manhattan DA Cyrus Vance, urging him to place tight restrictions on Whilby should he make bail, including no issuance of a passport and electronic monitoring.

Whilby, 23, was led into Judge Carro’s courtroom at 9:55 in a freshly pressed white dress shirt and gray slacks. His mother, sitting in the third row on the right hand side of the courtroom, put her arm around her sobbing younger son’s shoulders. On the left were members of the Pena family, along with officers from MaBSTOA and union rank and file and staff, including Division 1 Chair Richard Davis and Vice Chair Donald Yates.

Whilby’s attorney, Laura Miranda made an extended statement about his character, saying that he has no prior criminal history and that his father was murdered when Whilby was very young. She said that he got good grades in High School and worked as a forklift operator and a pharmacy technician. She added that she had sent the judge 37 letters of character reference, so that he could determine “who Domonic Whilby is.” She addressed a crucial element in the case – the issue of intent --  saying that “the incident that occurred [on February 12, 2014] was not something he intended to do or even imagined he could do.” She said her client regretted Pena’s death and was remorseful, was seeking mental health treatment, and was asking to be sent to a bed in the Argus Community Learning for Living Program, which is a program to turn around young men who have committed violent crimes. She said he would wear an ankle bracelet to insure against flight. She added that Whilby’s family, who live in Georgia, would put up their house, valued at $100,000, to secure his bail.

Miranda again called the accident an aberration, saying that “Domonic is not the type of person who would do something like that. He was a responsible young man up until the incident, but on February 12th he made the biggest mistake of his life.”

Again addressing the issue of intent, Miranda said that Whilby had not known he had taken a life until he was told of it by the police, and was “mortified that he had killed someone.”

In a rebuttal statement, ADA Randolph Clarke noted that Whilby had been in New York for less than a day when he began the partying that led to excessive drinking before the fatal accident. Clarke noted video evidence that showed Whilby recklessly stealing a truck and nearly killing two employees at the loading dock in the theft, then barreling into an intersection against the light, and not only killing Pena but injuring a passenger on the bus and a coffee vendor and his customer on the corner of 14th Street and 7th Avenue.

Miranda objected that Clarke was litigating the case, but Judge Carro let the ADA continue. Clarke added that the people have “a very strong case,” against Whilby, which is relevant to the bail application. The ten counts preferred against Whilby include two counts of murder in the second degree, one count of aggravated vehicular homicide, and one count of vehicular manslaughter in the second degree. Clarke called Whilby a flight risk and sought to rebut the character references, noting that Whilby’s social media pages show many pictures of alcohol and marijuana consumption. He said Whilby had endangered the lives of others, and asked that he remain incarcerated pending trial. He said that all of the support from Whilby’s family and friends had been there before the fatal accident – but had not changed his behavior that night. He said if bail was granted, the people were requesting at least $1 million, curfew requirements, an electronic bracelet, and a prohibition on any drugs or alcohol.

Testing another leg of the defense case, Attorney Laura Miranda said that Whilby’s blood alcohol level was .286, measured 38 minutes after the fatal crash, which meant that at the time of the event, Whilby had enough drink in him to cause him to black out – again robbing him of intent to kill Pena.

Judge Carro said that Whilby’s request to enter an 18-month program of rehabilitation was inconsistent with the timetable of the trial, which will begin in September. Nevertheless, he granted bail of $500,000 bond, or $250,000 cash, adding an electronic monitoring bracelet and a prohibition against using alcohol or other drugs.