Judge: Trucker made statements voluntarily

AUGUSTA – A judge has refused to throw out statements that trucker Scott Hewitt made to police after a Maine Turnpike crash last summer killed a Scarborough woman. Hewitt’s statements after the July 29 crash were made voluntarily after he was advised of his legal rights, Kennebec County Superior Court Justice Kirk Studstrup ruled Monday.

Defense lawyer Joel Vincent said Hewitt’s statements should be suppressed because he was under the influence of narcotics at the hospital where he was being treated for a broken kneecap when police issued his rights. Vincent said Hewitt was so upset he failed to appreciate the warnings.

But Studstrup concluded that Hewitt’s testimony at a November hearing on the motion was self-serving and unpersuasive.

Law enforcement officials at the scene, the hospital and the jail were scrupulous in informing Hewitt about his rights to remain silent and to be represented by counsel, Studstrup wrote.

Hewitt was indicted last month for manslaughter in the death of Tina Turcotte after tests showed he had marijuana in his bloodstream at the time of the crash.

The accident drew outrage when it was revealed that Hewitt’s driving history included 63 convictions and 22 license suspensions. Hewitt was involved in another fatal accident when he was driving a truck loaded with junk cars that tipped over in South Berwick in 1994 and trapped a man, 25, in his car as the wreckage burned, officials said.

Hewitt is being held in Kennebec County jail on $75,000 cash bail or property worth $300,000.