Ludwick Attorney Says Holes In Prosecution's Case

There will be no plea bargain for Sean Ludwick, a part-time Bridgehampton resident accused of driving drunk, dragging and leaving his passenger dead on the side of the road last summer after a crash, according to his defense attorney.Outside of a Suffolk County Criminal courtroom in Central Islip last Thursday, April 28, where Mr. Ludwick, now 43, was on the calendar, his Hauppague-based criminal defense attorney William Keahon said that he believes there are holes in the prosecution’s case, enough to warrant taking the case to trial, which will likely not start until the fall.In January, Mr. Ludwick was arrested on a bench warrant after prosecutors said he was trying to flee the country while free on $1 million bail after last summer’s summer crash. He was subsequently remanded to the Suffolk County Jail without bail, after prosecutors convinced the judge that he was a flight risk. Prosecutors say Mr. Ludwick had made plans to buy a sailboat in Puerto Rico and had even Googled phrases such as “how do fugitives escape.”After the August 2015 crash, Southampton Town Police had said they found Mr. Ludwick standing next to his damaged Porsche convertible on Woodvale Street in Sag Harbor, about a quarter mile from the place where the accident occurred on Rolling Hill Court East. He was heading toward his Bridgehampton home, police said, and they traced trails of fluid and gouged pavement marks from the damaged car rims back to the accident scene, where Paul Hansen, a Sag Harbor father of two young boys, was found dead.According to prosecutors, Mr. Ludwick’s blood-alcohol level was 0.18 percent, more than double the legal limit, four hours after the accident occurred.The lab is still testing items that were believed to be in Mr. Ludwick’s car during the August crash, according to Assistant District Attorney Ray Varuolo. Additionally, Mr. Keahon said he has not yet received the discovery package from the prosecution. Though Mr. Ludwick was on last week’s court calendar, he did not appear and is still currently behind bars in the Suffolk County Jail. He also is being represented by Jonathan B. Manley, who is also a Hauppage-based criminal defense attorney, as well as his first counsel Daniel J. Ollen.If Mr. Ludwick is convicted of the two most serious felony charges against him in his indictment—aggravated vehicular homicide and leaving the scene of a fatal accident—he could face up to 32 years in prison.