Tammy “Sunny” Sytch wants a new trial.
Sytch was convicted of a fatal Florida DUI crash in 2022 which killed 75-year-old Julian Lasseter.
She was sentenced to 17 years and six months in prison. Now, she wants a new trial.
Sytch filed a motion to have her conviction overturned. She claims her defense attorney didn’t do their job effectively especially when it comes to investigating all the circumstances of the crash.
Sytch claims that Lasseter had pre-existing health problems which should have been taken into consideration by her defence.
She also states in the motion that her attorney didn’t uncover the fact that lead Assistant State Attorney Ashley Terwilliger was married to physician Zachary Terwilliger, a central witness in the case.
Her first attempt to have the case reopened was dismissed by the court. The court warned Sytch at the time that if the case is retried, the plea deal she made with the prosecution would no longer be in play, which means she could face 26 years in prison.
Sytch has a history or run-ins with the law including:
2012–2013: She was arrested six times over a short span in late 2012 and early 2013. The charges stemmed from domestic disputes involving her ex-boyfriend (including burglary, disorderly conduct, and repeatedly violating protective orders), resulting in her serving 114 days in jail in Connecticut before her release in May 2013.
2015: Sytch had three DUI arrests within a few weeks in Pennsylvania (May 30, June 1, and June 20). Tests recorded blood-alcohol levels of 0.253% and 0.30%, well above the legal limit, along with an incident involving her car crashing into a ditch.
2016–2017: Sentenced to five years of probation with strict zero-alcohol restrictions, she repeatedly failed drug/alcohol testing and violated probation terms, leading to probation revocation and roughly five months of incarceration before her February 2017 parole.
2018–2020: Faced multiple new DUI charges, driving with a suspended license, hit-and-run incidents in New Jersey, failure to appear in court, and Pennsylvania extraditing/incarcerating her for parole violations. In July 2020, she was arrested for eluding police, driving while suspended, and violating a restraining order.
January 2022: Arrested in Keansburg, NJ, for allegedly threatening an intimate partner with scissors and making terroristic threats, leading to weapons charges.
February–May 2022: Charged with 11 traffic offenses in New Jersey in February (including driving while suspended and intoxicated). Following the March 2022 crash in Ormond Beach, Florida, that killed 75-year-old Julian Lasseter, Sytch was arrested in May once toxicological results were processed. The judge revoked her bond shortly after due to her extensive driving record and public safety risks.
