Amanda Sperduti: 2010 Crash, Alford Plea, and Destroyed Evidence

Amanda Sperduti is a Winston-Salem, North Carolina woman who was 20 years old when she survived a February 13, 2010 crash on Fairgrove Church Road in Browns Summit that killed three other people in the car. She entered an Alford plea to three counts of aggravated felony death by motor vehicle and was sentenced to seven to twelve years in prison. From prison she maintained she was not the driver, and in 2016 a judge found that state troopers had destroyed the physical evidence that might have answered the question — but denied her motions anyway.

The 2010 Crash

The car hit a tree at roughly 90 miles per hour, double the posted limit.¹ Three of the four occupants died: Sascha Adela Hoffman, 18, of Whitsett; Taylor Leigh McCaskill, 18, of Browns Summit; and Scott Wayne Bedwell, 23, of Greensboro.² Sperduti was the only survivor. She was seriously injured and lost her memory of the crash.

Her blood alcohol content measured 0.20, more than twice North Carolina’s 0.08 limit. A responding trooper noted a moderate odor of alcohol on her, and an empty beer can and a nearly empty small liquor bottle were recovered from the vehicle.¹ A state medical examiner’s report found all three victims also had blood alcohol levels above the legal limit.³ Sperduti was charged with three counts of death by motor vehicle, speeding, possession of drug paraphernalia, and driving while intoxicated.

The Alford Plea and Seven-to-Twelve-Year Sentence

In February 2011, Sperduti entered an Alford plea to three counts of aggravated felony death by motor vehicle.⁴ An Alford plea lets a defendant decline to admit guilt while acknowledging that the prosecution likely has enough evidence to convict.² Her inability to remember the crash factored into the choice.

Prosecutors had threatened second-degree murder charges, which carry the possibility of life imprisonment, and her attorney later said that threat was a significant factor in accepting the deal. Sperduti said the sentence still caught her off guard; she claimed her attorney had told her outcomes could range from probation and house arrest to a maximum of six years. She later filed a motion alleging miscommunication with her attorney during the plea process. A judge denied it.⁵

Why Sperduti Says She Wasn’t the Driver

In a July 2015 jailhouse interview with WXII 12, Sperduti said she believed she had been in the back seat when the car hit the tree.⁶ She acknowledged having no memory of the collision. “I want to have peace with what happened that night no matter what it is that happened. I have to know first,” she told the interviewer.⁵

Her family hired experts to look at the crash independently. Accident reconstruction expert Mike Sutton used physics-based modeling and said he had “suspicions about whether Sperduti was the driver.”⁷ A doctor named Michael Woodhouse also contributed analysis, which WXII summarized as concluding “science says Sperduti wasn’t the driver.”⁶

None of it was ever presented in court. Her attorney explained the plea deal precluded it, said he had feared a jury would be swayed by the emotional weight of three young people’s deaths, and noted that even if the defense proved Sperduti was not driving, she could have faced aiding and abetting charges for handing her keys to a drunk driver.⁵ Prosecutors maintained they had proved beyond a reasonable doubt that Sperduti was driving.

The Destroyed Evidence and the 2016 Ruling

In March 2016, Sperduti’s attorney JD Byers filed a motion to have specific items from the crash tested for DNA, including the car keys and the speedometer cluster, arguing they could help identify who was behind the wheel.² The motion was denied because the North Carolina State Highway Patrol had already destroyed the evidence.

Byers then sought sanctions, arguing the Highway Patrol destroyed the evidence before the required retention period had elapsed and without notifying the defense.³ He publicly called for her release, saying the violations were “clear.”

In August 2016, Guilford County Superior Court Judge Lindsay Davis heard the motions. The judge found that the Highway Patrol had destroyed the evidence “without compliance” with the North Carolina statute governing post-conviction DNA testing.⁸⁴² No public investigation or disciplinary action against the Highway Patrol for the destruction was reported.

Where the Case Stands

Sascha Hoffman, one of the three young people killed, had been described as Sperduti’s best friend. Her father was the only victim’s family member who spoke publicly, saying authorities “failed to find the truth about what happened” and that “parents deserve the truth.”⁵ The Bedwell and McCaskill families declined interview requests.

As of August 2016, Sperduti had served about five and a half years of her seven-year minimum.³ Based on her sentence range and the timing of her conviction, she would have reached minimum release eligibility around 2018. No further public reporting on her release or any subsequent legal developments was identified.

1
WXII 12. Warrant: Suspect in Fatal Crash Had .20 Blood Alcohol Level
2
WFMY News 2. Judge Denies Motion in Amanda Sperduti Case
3
FOX8. Attorney Calls for Woman Charged in Fatal DWI Case to Be Released From Prison
4
WXII 12. Motion in Amanda Sperduti Case Denied
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WXII 12. Exclusive: Amanda Sperduti Talks About Fatal 2010 Crash
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WXII 12. Video: Amanda Sperduti Talks About 2010 Crash
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WXII 12. Reconstruction Expert’s Suspicions on Who Was Driving
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WXII 12. Motion to Dismiss Sperduti Case Denied