GREENFIELD — The prosecution spent much of Monday grilling a medical expert called by the defense to testify in the case of Javery Hattat, the Vermont man accused of seriously injuring a Rhode Island family in a head-on crash on Route 2 in Greenfield nearly two years ago.

First Northwestern Assistant District Attorney Steven Gagne used his time for cross-examination to scrutinize the report that Dr. Emily Clionsky composed the summer after the March 12, 2023 crash and pointed out she had received only 30 of the 127 pages of Hattat’s medical records. In the trial’s fifth day, Gagne continued to build his case against Hattat and tried to pick apart aspects of Clionsky’s report that stated it was medically reasonable to suggest the crash was caused by Hattat having a seizure.

While allegedly under the influence of cocaine, Hattat swerved the Toyota Tacoma he was driving into oncoming traffic after falling asleep at the wheel near Longview Tower on Route 2 in Greenfield, slamming into the Nissan Armada carrying the Sojkowski family and sending all four to the hospital. Hattat, 33, has pleaded not guilty in Franklin County Superior Court to four counts of negligent operation of a motor vehicle while under the influence of drugs resulting in serious bodily injury, four counts of reckless assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, and one count of possession of a Class B substance (cocaine). He sustained a cut on his finger and lower back pain, and was discharged from a hospital the day of the collision.

Defense attorney R. David DeHerdt asked Clionsky questions to illustrate Hattat’s history of seizures. Clionsky also mentioned Hattat’s maternal grandmother had nine children who were diagnosed with epilepsy.

But Gagne revealed an error in Clionsky’s report that he said removed “a leg of a stool” on which Clionsky based her argument that Hattat was not impaired by cocaine and marijuana when the crash occurred, as the state alleges and as Hattat reportedly told authorities at the crash scene.

Hattat sustained a traumatic brain injury as the passenger in a 2014 car crash and has reportedly suffered seizures since then, which Clionsky said resulted in a physician prescribing Hattat an anti-epileptic. Gagne and Clionsky agreed that police body camera footage shows the defendant being confused at officers’ questions. Gagne argues this confusion was caused by narcotics, while Clionsky suggests the Suboxone that Hattat was prescribed can cause drowsiness.

Hattat reportedly recited the alphabet for responding officers but slurred the pronunciation of a few letters and omitted “O” and “Y.” Officers also asked him to count down from 79 to 62 and Clionsky, an American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology member who specializes in cognitive function, told the jurors that Hattat counted backward accurately but said each number twice, which she said could be a side effect of the Suboxone.

However, Gagne pointed out that Clionsky, who read the police reports, had misinterpreted the officers’ transcription of writing out each number and then providing it numerically in parentheses. Clionsky explained she suffered from severe glaucoma and relies on large-font magnification and a text-to-speech to dictate documents to her.

“My belief was incorrect,” she told Gagne.

Northampton Police Officer Heather Longley, a certified drug recognition expert, was called in to interview Hattat after the crash and filed a report suggesting drug intoxication. Gagne questioned Clionsky on why she never contacted Longley or Greenfield Police Detective Corey Greene for any clarification before submitting her report. Clionsky replied that that is not standard procedure.

When reiterating that Clionsky had reviewed only 30 of the 127 pages of Hattat’s medical records, Gagne asked the Springfield physician how she could have known if she had all necessary information and documentation.

“We have to trust that we are being given the medical records requested,” she said.

Clionsky stressed that Hattat had no cocaine or marijuana in his system when his blood was drawn at the hospital, though he told officers he had been up all night ingesting cocaine and had smoked marijuana about an hour before his drive to “stay awake.”

“So something’s really screwy here,” she said on the witness stand.

When asked by Gagne, Clionsky said the court had approved $3,000 to pay for her services.

Earlier in the day, Hattat’s mother, Colleen Behan-Hattat, testified that she had never seen her son consume cocaine or alcohol and requires him to smoke marijuana outside the home because of his daughter’s presence there.

Police body camera footage was shown of Hattat being stopped while trying to retrieve a coat or jacket from the vehicle after the crash. The footage of the mangled vehicles reduced Steve and Stephanie Sojkowski to tears. They suffered various severe, life-altering injuries, including a broken nose, ribs, knee cap, femur, pelvis and sacrum, while their 12-year-old son and 9-year-old daughter received comparatively less significant injuries. While in the courtroom, the parents required more comfortable chairs instead of the courtroom benches, due to their lasting injuries. The family was returning home to Westerly, Rhode Island, from a Berkshire East Mountain Resort ski trip in Charlemont when they were struck.

With witness testimony having wrapped up on Monday, the jurors were ordered to report back to court at 9:15 a.m. this morning. Closing arguments are expected today.

Reach Domenic Poli at: dpoli@recorder.com or
413-930-4120.