SCHOHARIE, N.Y. (NEWS10) — The Schoharie limousine crash trial will begin May 1 after a request from the defense to try again to have a plea deal reinstated was denied.

Lawyers for Nauman Hussain, the operator of the limo company involved in the crash, asked the court for permission to seek reinstatement of the plea deal for a second time. An appeals court declined to reinstate it last week.

The plea deal was reached in 2021 and would have allowed Hussain to avoid prison time, but it was rejected by a different judge in August 2022.

Hussain is accused of 20 counts of criminally negligent homicide for not properly maintaining the Ford Excursion limousine. The limo, according to court documents, suffered from “catastrophic brake failure” on October 6, 2018. Twenty people died as a result of the crash.