Teen pleads guilty in crash that killed 2

CANTON — Kramer R. Weaver, against his attorney's advice, accepted responsibility Tuesday in St. Lawrence County Court for a 2007 accident that killed two people.

Mr. Weaver, 19, of 537 Route 11, Gouverneur, pleaded guilty to felony criminally negligent homicide. The plea agreement calls for him to receive five years' probation and no jail time and pay about $4,000 in restitution when sentenced June 1. He also is eligible to be granted youthful-offender status.

He admitted to being under the influence of the muscle relaxant cyclobenzaprine when his 1999 Jeep Cherokee crossed into the opposite lane about 8 p.m. Oct. 1, 2007, and hit a 1988 Dodge Colt van driven by James D. Reeve, 30, Gouverneur.

Mr. Reeve and his 4-year-old son, James R., were killed in the crash. His wife, Amanda A., and daughter, Angelina M., survived. State police said then that Mr. Weaver didn't have a prescription for the medication.

Defense attorney Gary W. Miles said he had a strong defense for proving the amount of muscle relaxant in Mr. Weaver's system at the time of the crash wasn't enough to impair his ability. A defense expert would have testified at trial to that effect.

But his client didn't want to put the Reeve family through the ordeal of a long trial, scheduled to start May 19.

"Sometimes in the law, the morality of the situation bumps up against the legality of the situation," Mr. Miles said. "Kramer Weaver entered this plea this morning, technically against our legal advice. From a moral standpoint we felt, as he did, obviously, that he was responsible morally for the deaths of these individuals and he was going to take responsibility for it."

Mr. Weaver had ingested the muscle relaxant pill taken from his father's prescription bottle about 24 to 36 hours before the deadly accident, Mr. Miles said.

District Attorney Nicole M. Duvé said it was a difficult case because it would have been "a battle of the experts" at trial, when proving whether the amount of cyclobenzaprine in Mr. Weaver's system impaired him. The Reeve family was informed about the case's outcome and was "on board" with it.

"The defendant in this case was very young at the time," Ms. Duvé said. "He made some choices that showed poor judgment. The outcome in this case I think is just, given the evidence and the circumstances. He will have to live with this mistake for the rest of his life."

Mr. Weaver was indicted in September 2008 on two counts of criminally negligent homicide, both felonies, and a single count of failure to keep right. Mr. Weaver and his parents declined comment after the hearing.