When Lisa Rooney appears in court next week she will do so in a different courtroom, before a different judge.
The vehicular homicide case against the 31-year-old Montauk resident and business owner has been transferred to Judge Mark Cohen in Suffolk County Criminal Court, Riverhead. According to a Suffolk District Attorney spokeswoman, Judge Fernando Camacho recused himself following Ms. Rooney’s Jan. 13 arraignment in Central Islip. He reportedly knows the defendant’s mother, Bruna L. DiBiase, a New York City judge.
Ms. Rooney, who was released on her own recognizance after being arraigned on the 11-count indictment, was behind the wheel of a pickup truck that struck and killed John James Usma-Quintero, who was bicycling home in Montauk on Oct. 30. The D.A.’s office has contended that Ms. Rooney had been drinking for two hours at a Montauk bar and was driving 85 miles per hour when she hit him.
She is due in Judge Cohen’s courtroom on Friday, March 6. She had been due back before Judge Camacho on Monday.