Suffolk County District Attorney Daniel F. Conley issued the following press release regarding today’s arraignment of a driver who caused a crash that killed two people in East Boston earlier this year. State Troopers from Troop E, Troop F, the Suffolk County State Police Detective Unit, Crime Scene Services, and the Collision Analysis and Reconstruction Section responded to and investigated the crash. As District Attorney Conley notes, the investigation found that the defendant had THC, the chemical found in marijuana, as well as alcohol, in his system at the time of the crash.

BOSTON, Nov. 28, 2016—The driver of a sedan that collided with an airport shuttle van, killing two people, had the psychoactive chemical in marijuana in his blood and urine in addition to a blood-alcohol content almost twice the legal limit for driving, Suffolk County District Attorney Daniel F. Conley said.

STEVEN BIRENBAUM (D.O.B. 7/6/89) of Swampscott was arraigned today on indictments charging him with two counts each of manslaughter and motor vehicle homicide while operating under the influence. The indictments stem from the Aug. 31 deaths of Joseph A. Rodriguez, 59, and Sandra L. Arreola, 56, both of El Paso, Texas, on Route 90 in East Boston.

Assistant District Attorney Philip Cheng recommended that Birenbaum be held on $5,000 cash bail and told the court that toxicology screens of the defendant’s blood and urine, seized pursuant to a search warrant, revealed the presence of THC in both, as well as a blood-alcohol content of .15, nearly double the .08 at which a driver is legally too impaired to drive. Clerk Lisa Medeiros imposed Cheng’s bail recommendation.

“Cases like this one speak to the urgency with which lawmakers should address marijuana-impaired driving,” Conley said. “It’s a proven fact that driving under the influence of marijuana is every bit as dangerous as it is for alcohol, but unlike alcohol, we don’t yet have a way to quantify a driver’s impairment from marijuana. Colorado and Washington have implemented per se THC impairment parameters, but still have no rapid and reliable test as they do for alcohol. Massachusetts has neither an established impairment level nor an efficient means to test for one. Policymakers should be aware of this knowledge gap and take steps to bridge it if we expect to identify and prevent THC impairment among drivers.”

Prosecutors say Birenbaum was operating a Subaru Legacy at speeds of almost 80 mph at approximately 1:00 on the morning of the crash when he struck the rear of an airport/hotel shuttle vehicle on Route 90 east, causing both vehicles to collide with highway barriers. Rodriguez and Arreola, who were passengers in the shuttle, suffered fatal injuries; the shuttle’s driver and two other passengers suffered less serious injuries.

Blood samples were taken from both drivers pursuant to search warrants. Toxicology screens showed showed no intoxicating substances in the shuttle driver’s blood, and showed THC, THC metabolite, and alcohol in Birenbaum’s.

Birenbaum was represented today by attorney Joseph Moynihan. He will return to court on Feb. 22.

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