The latest news about Maine lakes and ponds.

Evidence Against Boater Involved in Long Lake Fatality Ruled Out

June 04, 2008 - PORTLAND -- A judge has ruled that some of the statements made by Robert LaPointe after a fatal boat crash on Long Lake last summer will not be admissible at his trial this fall.

Cumberland County Superior Court Justice Robert Crowley ruled that Warden Jason Luce should have read LaPointe his rights before asking him questions about how much alcohol he had consumed and how fast he was driving his boat on the night of Aug. 11, 2007.

But Crowley also ruled that Luce acted within the law when he ordered LaPointe to give a blood sample, which showed his blood alcohol content was 0.11 percent about three hours after the crash. Maine's legal limit for operating a car or a boat is 0.08 percent.

Crowley will rule later on whether the results of that test will be allowed as evidence at the trial, which is scheduled to begin on Sept. 8.

LaPointe, 39, of Medway, Mass., is charged with manslaughter, aggravated drunken driving and reckless conduct with a dangerous weapon.

He was driving a 32-foot power boat that collided with a 14-foot boat, killing both of its occupants: Suzanne Groetzinger, 44, of Berwick and Terry Raye Trott, 55, of Naples.

Warden Luce was the first investigator to interview LaPointe.

He spoke with him before the wreckage of the smaller boat had been found. Luce then followed an ambulance that took LaPointe to Bridgton Hospital. Luce interviewed LaPointe again at the hospital and told him that he could not legally refuse a blood test.

According to court documents, LaPointe told Luce that he had had six or eight beers and was driving between 45 and 50 mph before the crash. LaPointe allegedly told a nurse that he had been drinking all day, then stopped for an hour before having six more beers. The nurse has told investigators that LaPointe suggested she substitute her blood for his own.

Lawyers for LaPointe argued that statements he made to Luce should be suppressed because he was, in effect, in police custody and was never advised of his right to remain silent or his right to speak with an attorney. Justice Crowley agreed.

"The defendant was in custody because a reasonable person in his position would not have felt that he could cease the interrogation and leave," Crowley ruled in the 18-page order. "He was entitled to receive Miranda warnings."

Cumberland County District Attorney Stephanie Anderson could not be reached for comment Monday afternoon. LaPointe's attorney, George Hassett of the Boston-based Law Offices of J. Albert Johnson, also could not be reached.

By TREVOR MAXWELL, Staff Writer, Portland Press Herald, June 3, 2008


Lakes: Long Lake
Regions: Sebago


Print this story

Email this story

return to Lake News