AUGUSTA – A stone-faced prosecutor summoned reporters to the steps of the Kennebec County Superior Court Friday to announce a Caribou truck driver will not face a vehicular manslaughter charge stemming from the July 29 crash that killed a 40-year-old Scarborough woman.

“I cannot [make] my decision based on the outrage of the public,” said Kennebec County District Attorney Evert Fowle. “If I were able to, it would be an easy decision to make because, in many respects, I share the outrage of the public. Instead, I have to base the charges that I make on the evidence and the law that we have.”

In the end, the evidence collected by the Maine State Police did not support a charge of vehicular manslaughter against Scott Hewitt, a 32-year-old trucker with 63 driving convictions and 23 license suspensions.

Fowle also said that despite the recovery of marijuana from the ashtray inside Hewitt’s truck and a positive trace finding of the drug’s presence in his bloodstream, there was no evidence to support that Hewitt was impaired at the time of the collision on Interstate 95 in Hallowell.

“In fact, four or five people who spoke with the defendant right after the accident – if put on the witness stand – would testify that he did not appear to be impaired,” Fowle said. “There was no evidence that the condition of his truck contributed to this accident, and there is also no evidence that the speed of the truck relative to the posted speed limit was a factor. … What we have in this case is that Mr. Hewitt was inattentive. He did not notice the traffic slowing down. He did not put the brakes on, and the accident and the tragic death resulted. But inattentiveness has never been a basis for manslaughter in the state of Maine.”

Rather than major felonies, Hewitt will now face 11 charges stemming from the accident when his tractor-trailer slammed into the rear of a car operated by the late Tina Turcotte, who had slowed down at a construction site on I-95.

Hewitt has been charged with operating after suspension, possession of a suspended license, operating without authority, operating after being placed out of service, two counts of false record of duty status, operating without a medical certificate, operating while in possession of a radar detector, operating while in possession of a controlled substance, operating an unregistered motor vehicle and operating without insurance.

“The [Turcotte] family is understandably very, very upset,” Fowle said. “I can’t imagine the loss that they’re going through. My heart goes out to them. If there was any way I could bring a manslaughter charge in this case without violating my oath as a prosecutor, I would.”

Hewitt continues to be held in the Cumberland County Jail on motor vehicle charges unrelated to the fatal accident and is expected to be released Sept. 28.

Fowle said the trucker is scheduled to make his initial court appearance next week in Augusta on the charges stemming from the accident. The Aroostook County trucker also faces open charges arising from an incident that took place in Presque Isle about a week after the fatal crash.

Carrie Linthicum, assistant district attorney in Aroostook County, said Hewitt was charged with illegal attachment of license plates and operating an unregistered motor vehicle on Aug. 8 while in Presque Isle to consult with his attorney, Alan Harding. The trucker has pleaded not guilty to those new charges.

Harding said Friday afternoon he was “not surprised” Fowle had decided against pursuing a vehicular manslaughter charge against his client.

“After everything [Hewitt] told me, nothing he did approached criminal negligence on his part … there was no suggestion of that,” said Harding, adding it sounded like “someone wanted to write a lot of tickets” to support the 11 charges levied against Hewitt Friday.

Immediately after the Hallowell accident, Gov. John Baldacci formed a task force to recommend possible revisions to the state’s driving laws. The panel strongly supports tougher penalties for habitual offenders like Hewitt.

Fowle said he was bringing the most severe charges he could against the trucker available under existing Maine law.

But that is almost certain to change.

“My deputy and I will be proposing legislation through our state representatives in the next session for the creation of an aggravated operating after suspension charge which would make it a felony to operate after suspension when an accident ensues and somebody dies,” Fowle said. “We won’t be concerned about whose fault it was in that situation because if the person who was operating after suspension hadn’t been driving, the accident wouldn’t have occurred.”

Lee Umphrey, a spokesman for the governor, said Baldacci would fully support the beefed-up legislation in an effort to send a message that Mainers will no longer tolerate suspended drivers on the highways.

Bangor Daily News reporter Beurmond Banville contributed to this report.