Statement from Attorney Howard Hershenhorn on Arraignment of Driver Charged in DWI Crash That Killed Nassau County Police Officer Patricia Espinosa

MINEOLA, N.Y., March 13, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Following the arraignment of Matthew Smith on upgraded charges including aggravated vehicular homicide, vehicular manslaughter, and aggravated vehicular assault in connection with the fatal drunk-driving crash that killed Nassau County Police Officer Patricia Espinosa, Howard Hershenhorn, a partner at Gair, Gair, Conason, Rubinowitz, Bloom, Hershenhorn, Steigman & Mackauf, issued the following statement responding to comments made by defense counsel suggesting the incident was a "tragedy for everyone."

This statement is issued in direct response to the comments made by Matthew Smith's lawyer, suggesting that this is a "tragedy for everyone" and that "two lives were ruined." That characterization is profoundly wrong.

This is not a tragedy because two lives were ruined. This is a tragedy because Officer Patricia Espinosa, a 42 year old police officer, devoted public servant, wife, and mother, was killed on her way to work by a 20 year old drunk driver who chose to treat our public roads like his personal racetrack, driving his pickup truck at speeds reported to be as high as 125 miles per hour while intoxicated.

Patricia Espinosa is gone forever. Her life was taken from her. She leaves behind her two-year-old daughter and her husband, Francisco Malaga, who will wake up every single day for the rest of their lives without a mother and without a wife. A child will grow up without the love, guidance, and protection of the mother who would have been there for every milestone of her life.

The defendant, by contrast, is alive. He is breathing. He will have the opportunity to speak, to defend himself, and to live the remainder of his life. The consequences he now faces are not a tragedy. They are the result of his own intentional actions and unlawful decisions.

This crash was not just the result of one willful decision. The defendant was underage, yet bars still chose to serve him alcohol. Those establishments had a clear legal duty to check identification and refuse service. When bars ignore that responsibility and serve alcohol to minors, they create exactly the kind of deadly danger that occurred here.

Let us be clear about what happened here. A police officer who dedicated her life to protecting the public was killed because Matthew Smith made the conscious decision to drink, get behind the wheel of a truck, and drive at extraordinarily dangerous speeds. To compare Smith's circumstances with the loss suffered by Officer Espinosa's family diminishes the magnitude of what has been taken from them.

The only tragedy in this case is the death of Officer Patricia Espinosa and the lifelong devastation inflicted upon her daughter, her husband Francisco, her parents, her brothers and sister, along with her fellow officers, and the community she served.

Media Contact: Howard Hershenhorn 212-943-1090

SOURCE Gair, Gair, Conason, Rubinowitz, Bloom, Hershenhorn, Steigman & Mackauf