Judge won’t dismiss charges in fatal crash

DOVER-FOXCROFT – A Superior Court justice has denied an Abbot man’s motion for the dismissal of two manslaughter charges in connection with a 2004 car crash in Sebec that killed two young men.

Police allege that Heath St. Louis, 21, was the driver of a 2004 Mazda MZ6 that crashed on North Road in October 2004. Killed in the crash were Elias Russell, 22, of Parkman and Drake Martell, 21, of Sangerville.

A motorist spotted St. Louis, who had minor injuries, running from the scene, yelling and trying to get help, according to police reports. He claims, however, he was not the driver of the vehicle.

Attorney N. Laurence Willey Jr. of Bangor, who represents St. Louis, filed a motion to dismiss the case, claiming that police and Piscataquis County District Attorney R. Christopher Almy failed to preserve evidence in the case.

In particular, the Mazda MZ6 was released to the owner’s insurance company after being processed at the Maine State Police Crime Laboratory and has since been destroyed.

“I think it was really negligent on their part,” Willey said recently.

To obtain the dismissal, Willey had to demonstrate that the vehicle would have been favorable evidence for St. Louis; that he would be unable to obtain evidence of comparable value by other reasonable means; and that the state acted in bad faith by failing to preserve the vehicle.

While Justice Andrew Mead called the release of the car “profoundly ill-advised,” he ruled earlier this month that there appeared to be enough evidence to proceed.

He wrote that while photographs of the vehicle provided a significant degree of similar evidence, he could not conclude that they constitute comparable evidence.

Based on the known facts and the videotape and photographs he reviewed in the case, Mead said the wreckage appeared to offer incriminating evidence. He said the release of the vehicle appeared, however, to be an act of inadvertence, not an act of malice toward the defendant.

“What happened was we were done with the car; we had it completely examined forensically and we gave it back to the insurance company,” Almy said recently. “In retrospect, it probably would have been nice to keep the car just in case somebody wanted to challenge anything, but you know, the findings were so clear, it really didn’t make any difference in our opinion.”

Willey said St. Louis was indicted on the charge a year after the crash. When he was hired to represent St. Louis, Willey requested copies of all the evidence from Almy, but the defense attorney said he was told he could not have them at the time because the matter was still under investigation.

Willey also asked Almy to preserve the evidence, which Almy stated in a letter he would do, Willey said.

“We didn’t know what was going on other than what my investigator could find from witnesses,” Willey said.

When Dr. Thomas Bohan, a physicist retained by Willey, asked to examine the vehicle, it couldn’t be found, he said. Willey learned later the car had been released to an insurance carrier and had been demolished.

“At this point, there are a lot of questions that remain unanswered that our experts would have discovered and been able to comment on and we think probably would be exculpatory, so this is really creating a due process issue for my client,” Willey stated.

Willey also filed a motion for a change of venue but that motion was deferred by Mead to jury selection. If the case goes to trial and a change of venue is not made, Willey said he expects the jury will be told about the destruction of the evidence.

On this motion, Mead said if the state offers expert testimony regarding the condition of the vehicle at trial, St. Louis and his attorney may introduce the fact that they were deprived of an opportunity to conduct a forensic examination of the vehicle.

Willey said that in his many years in practice, this is the first time evidence like this has been destroyed.

“This is extremely serious and quite frankly I don’t know how it could happen,” he said.