Montco man guilty in crash, but cleared of DUI homicide

A Montgomery County man was found guilty Friday in the death of a friend in a 2013 accident that caused his car to explode and split in half.

But the jury that convicted Sean Sperl, 23, of Lansdale, of homicide by vehicle and leaving the scene of an accident, acquitted him of the most serious charge - DUI homicide - in the crash that killed Ryan Petrille, 21.

That count would have carried a mandatory minimum three-year jail term, as opposed to one year on the counts on which he was convicted.

Sperl remained expressionless as the jury announced its verdict and Petrille's family cried.

"I just want to thank the jury for giving me a fair trial," Sperl said as he left the courtroom Friday.

Petrille's family and friends, who packed the courtroom during the weeklong trial, were not pleased with the outcome.

"We're absolutely disappointed," said Petrille's mother, Jill. "We think it sends a bad message out to the community, that you can drink and drive and you can get away with it."

Sperl, Petrille, and Ryan Benner went to the April 22, 2013, Phillies game with a group of friends. They drank beer and liquor during the game and on the way home in another friend's car, according to testimony at trial.

After arriving back in Lansdale, the three 21-year-olds got into Sperl's car with plans to go to a strip club. Petrille was in the backseat.

Prosecutors said Sperl was driving his Honda Civic at more than 80 m.p.h. around a sharp curve on Ridge Road in Salford Township when it hit a utility pole. The car exploded, its front and back halves flying in opposite directions.

Benner testified that he was in the passenger seat and discovered Petrille's body after the accident. Benner said in emotional testimony that he went into shock after seeing his best friend dead and fled the scene.

Sperl, who testified that he does not remember the accident because he suffered a concussion, also wandered away from the scene. Others testified that Sperl woke up confused in a nearby shed a few hours later and asked a resident to call police.

"I'm drunk, and I crashed a car and possibly killed somebody," he told state troopers in a recording of the conversation played at trial.

Sperl's blood-alcohol content, taken four hours after the accident, was 0.175 - more than double the legal definition of drunken driving.

"That four-hour time lapse was problematic in the case," said Assistant District Attorney Rebecca Geiser. She said the not-guilty verdict on DUI charges was disappointing, but added that the jury did find Sperl responsible for Petrille's death.

Defense attorney Charles Mandracchia said Sperl was "very relieved" by the verdict, though he still must spend at least a year in prison for leaving the scene of the accident.

"I could not have asked for a better jury," he said.

Mandracchia argued at trial that Sperl could have consumed alcohol after the accident, based on the bottles found in the car.

He also said that Sperl might not have been driving, and that the dangerous road and placement of the utility pole - not speed or alcohol - caused the accident.

Geiser said in closing arguments that Sperl's defense team was simply playing "the blame game."

But the jury ultimately acquitted Sperl of the DUI homicide charge, as well as two counts of DUI.

The maximum jail term for leaving the scene would be 10 years; for homicide by vehicle, seven years.

Geiser said she would argue for consecutive sentences. Mandracchia said he would work to keep Sperl out of prison beyond the mandatory year.

Sperl will be sentenced before Judge Gary S. Silow at a later date.

lmccrystal@phillynews.com610-313-8116 @Lmccrystal