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Venue Change Sought in Fatal Long Lake Boat Crash Trial

August 06, 2008 - PORTLAND -- Lawyers for a Massachusetts man have asked a judge to delay his Sept. 8 manslaughter trial or move it out of Cumberland County, because of the publicity surrounding the case.

They also want the results of a blood alcohol test, taken from Robert LaPointe after a fatal boat crash last summer, kept out of the trial. In motions filed this week at Cumberland County Superior Court, LaPointe's lawyers say investigators obtained the sample illegally, and it is not scientifically reliable.

District Attorney Stephanie Anderson, meanwhile, filed her own motions this week. One of them seeks to have the jury members brought to the town of Harrison, to view the spot where LaPointe's boat smashed into a smaller boat on Long Lake, killing Terry Raye Trott and Suzanne Groetzinger.

LaPointe, 39, of Medway, Mass., and Bridgton, faces manslaughter and drunk boating charges stemming from the fatal crash on Aug. 11, 2007.

Prosecutors claim LaPointe was going between 45 and 50 mph at the time of the crash, and his blood alcohol content was 0.11 three hours later.

Portland defense lawyer Neale Duffett says extensive media coverage has created a "climate of hostility" toward LaPointe.

"The judge should continue the case until the threat abates, or transfer it to another county not so permeated with publicity," Duffett wrote in his motion to delay or move the trial, quoting a 1966 U.S. Supreme Court ruling.

Duffett and Boston-based defense lawyer George Hassett filed 14 separate motions this week, seeking to block prosecutors from introducing certain statements, photographs and other evidence at the trial.

Justice Robert Crowley reviewed the motions and unsealed them on Friday, overruling an objection by the defense lawyers, who wanted the documents impounded. Crowley is expected to hear arguments on the motions at a hearing on Wednesday.

Among the items the defense wants Judge Crowley to exclude from trial:

• Results of the blood test administered on LaPointe about three hours after the crash.
• Data recovered from the computers on board LaPointe's 32-foot Sunsation Dominator.
• Photographs of the bodies of Trott and Groetzinger.
• Testimony from a boat repairman, indicating that Trott's boat was moving at a slow rate of speed when it was hit.
• Statements from witnesses about consumption of alcohol by LaPointe on dates other than Aug. 11, 2007.

Anderson and Assistant District Attorney Jennifer Norbert filed two motions this week. The first asks that the jury be transported to Long Lake, under the supervision of a judicial marshal.

"A view is necessary to fully comprehend and understand the significance of the evidence," Anderson wrote. "Unlike automobiles, the general public does not have a familiarity with proper boating procedures or with the use of high performance 'cigarette boats.'

"This lack of familiarity will prevent the jury from understanding the significance of the State's evidence establishing that the defendant's boat was traveling at forty five to fifty miles-per-hour at night and while the defendant was intoxicated."

The second prosecution motion asks Crowley to exclude any evidence the defense might present about the blood alcohol levels, or alcohol consumption, by Trott and Groetzinger.

"While both of the victims' alcohol levels were below the legal limit of 0.08 percent, evidence of the alcohol level of either victim is irrelevant," Anderson wrote.

"It is not alleged that the operation of the victim's boat in any way contributed to the crash."

8.02.08
BY TREVOR MAXWELL
Blethen Maine Newspapers


Lakes: Long Lake
Regions: Sebago


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