Prosecution rests in fatal Deer Park nail salon case after expert testifies about Steven Schwally's intoxication before crash

Prosecutors rested their depraved-indifference murder case against Steven Schwally Monday after more than three weeks of testimony alleging the Dix Hills man was highly intoxicated in June 2024 when he crossed a busy Deer Park intersection and crashed through a nail salon, killing four and injuring nine others.

Schwally, 66, who has not attended the trial since suffering a heart attack more than a week ago. His defense lawyer has not indicated if he will call a witness when the trial resumes. The jury was told to expect closing arguments at some point Tuesday before deliberations can begin.

“We will make a determination tonight,” said defense attorney Christopher Cassar, of Huntington, when asked outside the Riverhead courtroom if he intended to present a defense case.

State Supreme Court Justice Richard Ambro on Monday denied a defense motion to dismiss four second-degree murder charges against Schwally. Cassar argued prosecutors failed to show his client acted with an utter disregard for human life when he allegedly drove his Chevrolet Traverse drunk at 78 mph over curbs, sending the vehicle airborne and through the Hawaii Nail and Spa storefront at 4:30 p.m. on June 28, 2024, claiming the lives of salon owner Jian Chai Chen, 37, of Bayside, Queens; employees Yan Xu, 41, and Mei Zi Zhang, 50, both of Flushing, Queens; and off-duty NYPD Officer Emilia Rennhack, 30, of Deer Park. The judge dismissed only a single assault charge related to a crash survivor who was not among the roughly 40 witnesses called by prosecutors to testify.

Kristin Clarino, a forensic scientist with the Suffolk County Medical Examiner’s Office, was the final prosecution witness, testifying Monday that Schwally had a blood alcohol content of 0.17%, more than two times the legal limit, about 100 minutes after the crash. No drugs were found in his system, she said.

Clarino told the jury Schwally’s blood alcohol levels were in range with a 200-pound person consuming between 6.5-9.4 standard alcohol drinks. She said 375 milliliter bottles of 40-proof alcohol, like the two bottles investigators said Schwally purchased at a liquor store adjacent to the salon hours before the crash, contain about 4.4 standard drinks each.

Clarino spoke of the effects a high volume of alcohol consumption might have on a person’s body, saying that at levels above 0.18% a person enters "a state of inertia."

“You are confused about your surroundings,” said Clarino, who has worked for the medical examiner since 2005 and is assigned to the DWI section.

Cassar questioned during cross-examination if Clarino and police followed proper procedures during testing, referring to departmental policies that called for specific vials to be used to store blood evidence.

The forensic scientist said she was forced to use blood drawn by hospital staff after different samples provided by police did not contain enough blood for adequate testing.

Cassar sought to attack the evidence, noting that other vials used to preserve forensic blood contain an inhibitor that prevents fermentation, stopping the alcohol levels from increasing in the tube. He also asked about the specific locker the blood was stored in, suggesting it might not have been refrigerated, as is required to preserve the evidence.

“It is a refrigerated locker,” Clarino shot back.

Clarino said under redirect examination from Assistant District Attorney Carl Borelli that fermentation in a vial is highly unlikely, and would require a sample to be stored in high heat for an extended period of time.

“These tubes are sterile,” she said, adding it was unlikely that bacteria could be present in the samples she tested several days after the crash.

Hospital records Ambro allowed the jury to see also showed a similar high level of alcohol in Schwally's system independent of the county Medical Examiner's Office reports.

Cassar, who has said Schwally could not remove his foot from the gas pedal before the crash due to a leg disability, said he's confident the jury will see issues with Clarino's testimony.

"They have their own standard operating procedures requiring them to use certain types of tubes .. and they didn't do that," Cassar said.

Schwally, who is facing 25 years to life in prison if convicted on any of the murder charges, is not expected to return to court before a verdict as he continues to recover, his attorney said.

By Grant Parpan

grant.parpan@newsday.com@GrantParpan

Grant Parpan covers Suffolk County courts and federal courts for Newsday. A Long Island native, he joined Newsday in 2022.