Man found guilty in fatal crash Manslaughter verdict in Prospect girl’s death

ELLSWORTH – A Frankfort man was found guilty Thursday of manslaughter in connection with an accident last year in Verona that claimed the life of a 14-year-old Prospect girl.

After hearing three days of testimony in Hancock County Superior Court, it took a jury of seven women and five men 51/2 hours to decide Paul Mason, 29, was the driver of a truck that sped away from Bucksport police on Route 1, went out of control, and crashed at the eastern end of the Waldo-Hancock Bridge. Hope Porter, one of four other people in the truck, died the next morning at Eastern Maine Medical Center in Bangor as a result of the accident.

Mason also was found guilty Thursday of aggravated assault, reckless conduct with a dangerous weapon, eluding a police officer and operating a motor vehicle under the influence of intoxicants in connection with the fatal wreck.

Three of Porter’s aunts, who have been in the courtroom for each day of the trial, clenched their hands together and nodded in approval as the verdict was announced.

Five members of Mason’s family, including his father, stepmother and uncle, stared in apparent disbelief as each juror was polled individually about the manslaughter charge against Mason. The defendant, wearing a sweater and a white collared shirt, lowered his head and stared at the floor as each juror said the word “guilty.”

After the jury was dismissed, Mason hugged his family and sobbed before they departed. Mason was released on $5,000 bail until his sentencing, which has yet to be scheduled. He faces up to 40 years in prison for the manslaughter conviction.

Police accused Mason of driving recklessly in Bucksport after he, his younger brother Adam Mason, Porter, Nicholas Leach, and April Kane left a party at a Bucksport trailer park in Paul Mason’s truck June 19, 2001. Police said they tried to pull him over in Verona, but that Mason accelerated west on Route 1 toward the bridge. Mason lost control of the truck, which went off the right side of the road, crossed back over the pavement, struck a utility pole and flipped over a guardrail before coming to rest in a ditch at the eastern end of the bridge.

After the verdict, Mason’s attorney, Joseph Baiungo of Belfast, appeared emotionally upset by the conviction.

“I feel bad for the Mason family because the kid wasn’t driving,” Baiungo said. “I wish there was more I could do for him.” Baiungo said he has not yet discussed a possible appeal with his client.

Baiungo argued during the trial that Mason was not driving the truck at the time of the accident. Defense witnesses provided testimony that suggested the driver could have been another man, Nicholas Leach, who also was in the truck when it went off the road.

Hancock County Assistant District Attorney Patrick Larson, the prosecutor in the case, said he was satisfied with the verdict.

“I’m very pleased with the outcome,” Larson said. “The jury gave all the evidence serious consideration.”

Porter’s aunts did not speak to reporters or identify themselves by name but did release a written statement after the verdict.

“We know this is a tragedy and there’s no happy ending for anyone involved,” they wrote. “Nothing is going to bring Hope back to us, but we feel like now she can rest in peace.”

Mason testified Thursday morning that he does not remember anything about the accident.

He told the jury he had already started drinking earlier on the day of the accident when he rode with his friend Amy Ross in her car to Ellsworth to pick up another friend who was getting off work at a fast-food restaurant. Mason said he did not drive the car during the trip but remembers sitting in the back seat on the way back to Bucksport. He said he did not remember getting back to Bucksport.

“I remember waking up in the hospital,” Mason said. “I thought we had been in an accident in Amy’s car.”

In his closing statement, Baiungo said Leach and Kane have each hired attorneys to pursue civil suits against his client. Outside the courtroom, Baiungo said Porter’s family has also hired a lawyer for the same purpose, but that he does not know if any suit against Mason have been filed yet in court.