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'Long day,' No Verdict, in Boater's Trial

September 24, 2008 - PORTLAND -- Jurors in Robert LaPointe's manslaughter trial completed their first full day of deliberations Tuesday without reaching a verdict.

The seven women and five men are expected to resume at 8:30 a.m. today. They have had the case since noon on Monday, after eight days of testimony in Cumberland County Superior Court in Portland.

LaPointe, 39, of Medway, Mass., is charged with two counts of manslaughter, two counts of aggravated drunken driving and one count of reckless conduct with a dangerous weapon, for allegedly causing a boat crash that killed two people on Long Lake in Harrison last summer.

Friends and relatives of LaPointe, as well as friends and relatives of the two victims, plan to return to the courthouse this morning, where the wait is taking its toll.

"It was a very long day," said Jeannine Sumner of South Paris, a close friend of Suzanne Groetzinger, who died in the crash on Aug. 11, 2007. "You don't know what's going to happen. You want justice to be served."

The jurors sent several notes from the jury room to court officials on Tuesday, asking for specific pieces of information, including copies of the jury instructions and definitions of legal terms.

Prosecutors and defense lawyers declined to say what inferences they could make, if any, from the requests.

Sumner said she and her friends have tried to boost each other's spirits at the courthouse.

"We're all up there supporting each other, talking about memories of Suzie," she said, wiping away tears.

Sumner said she and the Groetzinger family plan to push for new state legislation that would prohibit large, cigarette-style boats from Maine lakes and ponds.

During the trial, prosecutors and state investigators have referred to LaPointe's boat as an "offshore" boat, designed for ocean operation.

LaPointe was driving a 32-foot Sunsation Dominator, equipped with twin 425-horsepower engines, around 9 p.m. on Aug. 11, 2007, on Long Lake. His boat ran over a 14-foot motorboat operated by Terry Raye Trott of Harrison. Trott, 55, and Groetzinger, 44, were killed.

A blood test showed that LaPointe's blood alcohol content was 0.11 percent three hours after the crash. Maine's legal limit to operate a boat or a motor vehicle is 0.08 percent.

Prosecutors and several witnesses said LaPointe's speed, allegedly at least 45 mph, was reckless for night boating.

Defense lawyers have described the crash as a tragic accident. They say that LaPointe was not intoxicated and that Trott's boat didn't have any lights on.

LaPointe's attorneys also contended that the result of the blood test is not reliable for a number of reasons, including the fact that the sample sat in a warden's truck for 34 hours before it was analyzed.

On the stand last week, LaPointe said that he was going 30 mph when the boats collided, and that he drank only three beers that day.

LaPointe also disputed the testimony of a nurse, who testified that LaPointe suggested she draw her own blood instead of his when she was about to take his sample.

By TREVOR MAXWELL, Staff Writer, Portland Press Herald, September 24, 2008

Lakes: Long Lake
Regions: Sebago


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