Amnesiac pleads guilty in fatal DWI

A New Hyde Park man pleaded guilty Tuesday to killing a teenager in a drunken driving crash, even though doctors agree he has severe amnesia and can't remember anything about the wreck.

James J. Ryan, 46, of New Hyde Park, told Nassau County Judge Jerald Carter he wanted to plead guilty to second-degree manslaughter, but said he couldn't remember discussing that decision with his father, who appeared in court with him, or his lawyer.

But he told Carter he understood he would be sentenced to 3 to 9 years in an upstate prison at his next court date, Oct. 19.

"Apparently I was involved in a collision," Ryan told Carter, adding, "I try to remember what happened, because I feel terrible that this boy lost his life."

Prosecutor Brendan Ahern said in court Ryan was drunk and driving his Harley-Davidson motorcycle at more than 80 mph on the Wantagh State Parkway on July 20, 2009, when he veered off the road and struck Matthew Scarpati, 19, of Dix Hills, who was changing the tire on his bicycle on a path next to the roadway.

Scarpati was a student at the University of Buffalo and was at home for the summer working as a Manhattan doorman.

Ryan's lawyer, Edward Galison, of Mineola, said he implored his client not to plead guilty.

"His mental condition is so poor, he doesn't understand almost anything I tell him," Galison said in court.

He said Ryan's father, a former police officer, advised his son to plead guilty. Thomas Ryan, 76, admitted outside court that he had.

"This has been an extremely sad time in our lives, not only for us, but for the family of the young man who lost his life," the father said. "But we must get on with our lives."

Typically, a defendant is asked to admit committing the crimes of which they are accused on the record before pleading guilty.

But because Ryan does not know what he did, Carter simply asked him whether he disputes the state's allegations. Ryan answered that he did not.

Experts disagreed about whether Ryan was competent to stand trial, but Carter ruled he was because despite his amnesia and brain damage, Ryan understood enough to assist in his own defense, which is the legal standard.

Scarpati's mother, Lynn Scarpati, who worked with legislators to have a guardrail erected between the parkway and the bike path, said she's not ready to forgive Ryan.

"I am not at that point in my life, so I will pass that on to a higher power," Scarpati said outside the courtroom. "If God forgives him, then I guess he can be forgiven."