ALBANY, N.Y. (WENY) – Caden Charnetski's appeal has been denied by the Appellate Division of the New York State Supreme Court.

As WENY News reported, in July 2018, Charnetski was driving his car on Westinghouse Road in Horseheads with three passengers. As he was turning left onto Westlake Street, he collided with a motorcycle Harolyn and Matthew Matteson were riding on. Both of the Mattesons were killed.

Following the accident, a blood test was taken, revealing the presence of marijuana in his system. Charnetski was initially charged with vehicular manslaughter in the first degree, two counts of vehicular manslaughter in the second degree and driving while ability impaired by drugs.

Following a bench trial in Chemung County Court, Charnetski was convicted of vehicular manslaughter in the first degree and sentenced as a youthful offender, making his prison term one to three years.

Charnetski's legal team appealed the conviction, arguing the verdict “is not supported by legally sufficient evidence and is against the weight of the evidence because the People failed to prove that he operated his vehicle while impaired by marijuana and caused the victims' death as a result”.

Thursday, the court handed down its decision, denying that appeal.

"Obviously, we're pleased with the result and we think it's the right result," said Chemung County Assistant District Attorney Will Vadelinder, who represented the plaintiff in the appeal. "We hope at this point, given the amount of time this process has taken, all parties involved can have some sense of closure now." 

Vandelinder added it's currently unknown when Charnetski will report to prison, though he expects it to be "fairly swift". He added the COVID-19 pandemic adds "a new layer of complexity". At the beginning of the pandemic, state prisons weren't bringing new people in and inmates were initially being held in local county jails. 

You can read the entire decision below: