Police File Charge Against Driver in Route 114 Fatality, Arraignment Adjourned

Brian K. Midgett Jr. was scheduled to appear in East Hampton Town Justice Court on Thursday on a charge related to a head-on collision on Route 114 that left a Virginia man dead last month, but Midgett's arraignment was postponed as the investigation continues.

filed a charge of driving under the influence of drugs against Midgett, a 20-year-old East Hampton man, though his attorney Susan Menu says there is currently no evidence against him. Menu said that police issued a desk appearance ticket — similar to a ticket drivers receive for a traffic violation — on the day of the crash for Midgett to appear on a DUI charge.

Menu said her client's blood tests were negative for alcohol. A toxicology report, which takes longer, she said, has not come back yet. His phone records have been subpoenaed, but the records have not been received, yet, she added.

"You can't arraign someone if you can't prove he did anything wrong," Menu said outside of court.

He has not been formally charged with a crime so far — his arraignment was adjourned until Oct. 4.

Menu made the application for the arraignment to be adjourned and the Suffolk County District Attorney's office complied. Robert Clifford, a spokesman for the DA's office, said on Wednesday, "The Vehicular Crimes Unit investigation of the accident is not finished."

Police said that Midgett was behind the wheel of a pick-up truck that crossed into the opposite lane on Route 114 on July 29, hitting a Volvo SUV head-on at about 12:45 p.m.

On vacation with his family, , 51, of McLean, VA, was killed on impact. His wife Elisabeth Schneiderman and 16-year-old daughter Rachel Schneiderman were hospitalized with serious injuries and released four days later. Douglas Schneiderman was a well-known developer in the Washington, DC area.

Route 114 remained closed for seven hours while police investigated the cause of the accident, but .

Midgett spent several weeks in Stony Brook University Hospital. He remains in a wheelchair, with two broken legs, and will require skin grafts, Menu said.

"If they were to find something in his system, it would be a pain killer," Menu said. "It's my hope, as his attorney, that this was just a terrible, tragic accident," she said. "He's devastated. His heart goes out to the family of the man who was killed."

Had there been evidence of a driving while intoxicated charge right after the accident, Midgett would have been arraigned in the hospital or in court right away, Menu said.