Orange County prosecutors offered a plea deal on Wednesday to Chaim Gordon, who, according to state police, was passing a car carrying New Square Grand Rabbi David Twersky when, speeding, he crossed double-yellow lines into oncoming traffic, leading to the death of 62-year-old Iksong Jin.

Prosecutors said Gordon could plead guilty to two of the six charges issued on Aug. 9: moving from a lane unsafely and speeding. Gordon was accused of driving at 76 miles per hour in a zone with a 50-mile-per-hour speed limit. The District Attorney said that accepting the plea deal would result in at least 10 points on Gordon’s license and more than $1,000 in fines, according to Hudson Valley News 12.

A key issue in the case is whether Gordon has been, and should be, assigned a criminal charge of reckless driving, a misdemeanor that, for a first-time offender, carries a penalty of up to 30 days in jail, fines up to $300, and a criminal record. Two different judges have taken different views of the matter.

Reckless driving was one of six charges issued to Gordon a few days before his first court appearance, on Aug. 14. At that hearing, Judge Bruce Schonberg read aloud a letter sent by state police saying that the reckless driving charge was “issued in error” and asking that it be withdrawn. The letter from the police, signed by Investigator John Roden, was posted by Hudson Valley News 12.

Read more in Shtetl: Police, prosecutors point to each other in dropping criminal charge against driver in fatal car crash

At Gordon’s second appearance, on Aug. 23, prosecutors and a new judge, David Hasin, disagreed about the criminal charge. Prosecutors said that although they believed the charge had been dropped at the previous court appearance, they moved to have it dismissed. “This matter was fully investigated and there was no evidence of distracted driving or intoxication,” a prosecutor argued.

Hasin took a different view. “I was not the judge last week, and I would never have read anything into the record, and I certainly would never have let it be withdrawn,” the judge said. “Similarly, I’m not even going to allow it to be dismissed.” But he quickly changed his tune and said he would consider it before making a final decision.

After the appearance, Gordon’s lawyer, Gerard Damiani, told Shtetl that the collision was an accident. “The first thing our client did when he got out of the vehicle in his injured state is attempt to help everybody else, including the driver of the other vehicle."

Matthew Weiss, a traffic lawyer at Weiss & Associates, PC, called the plea deal prosecutors offered Gordon “generous.”

“That seems to be an excellent offer for the motorist, especially since he killed someone,” Weiss said.

“You don’t need to be drunk or distracted to drive a car in a reckless manner,” Weiss said. “If you are speeding, weaving, crossing over double-yellow, those actions alone can be reckless.”

Gordon’s next court date is Sept. 27.