March 28, 2024
BANGOR DAILY NEWS (BANGOR, MAINE

Defense attorney faults road in fatal accident

ROCKLAND — The death of Owen Carignan, 14, of St. George on the night of July 24, 1996, was caused by the reckless, willful negligence of intoxicated driver Malcolm S. Bedell, 19, according to District Attorney Geoffrey Rushlau. Rushlau addressed the jury on the opening day of Bedell’s manslaughter trial in Knox County Superior Court on Monday.

But Defense Attorney James Strong said the teen-ager’s death was caused by “driver inexperience, foggy weather, inattention, wet roads and especially a death trap of a road.” Although Bedell admittedly consumed a 40-ounce bottle of Colt 45 malt liquor four hours before the accident, alcohol did not contribute to the accident, Strong told the jury.

Defense expert witnesses will testify that the curvy and bumpy section of the Wallston Road where the accident occurred was poorly constructed and causes automobile tires to lift off the road. The road, more than any other factor, caused the accident, Strong said.

Justice Margaret Kravchuk warned the jury that the trial could take all week, with a long list of witnesses scheduled to testify. Bedell is charged with manslaughter, three counts of aggravated operating a motor vehicle while under the influence of intoxicating liquor and driving without a license.

Initial police reports stated that Amanda Siri Ames, 16, of Cushing, not Bedell, was driving the car when the accident occurred. Because of the confusion over who was driving, police took no blood or breath test on Bedell to determine alcohol levels. Rushlau said several police officers will testify that Bedell had bloodshot eyes and the smell of alcohol on his breath.

According to Rushlau, a group of St. George teen-agers, including Bedell, went on the day of the accident to Portland, where they purchased four 40-ounce bottles of malt liquor. Bedell drank at least one bottle, Rushlau said. The teens returned to St. George about 7:30 p.m. when, according to witnesses, Bedell called his mother and confessed, “I’m drunk.” Rushlau said.

When the group decided they wanted cigarettes, they called Ames in Cushing to drive them to Rockland. When Ames arrived in the family car, a 1992 GMC Jimmy, Bedell took the wheel and lost control of the vehicle several times on the way to Rockland. In the vehicle were sisters Odette and Isabel Lindsay and Carignan, all of St. George.

After they got the cigarettes at a Rockland market, Ames took the keys and drove back to St. George, where Bedell again took the wheel. He drove down Route 131, then on to the Wallston Road.

One witness said the vehicle was going 65 miles per hour on the Wallston Road in the moments before the accident. The vehicle went out of control and slammed into a power pole, Rushlau said.

Bedell did “make the unfortunate decision” to get the malt liquor between 6 and 7:30 p.m., but that had no bearing on the accident at 11:30 p.m., Strong said. By then the liquor had “worn off,” the attorney said. The defendant called his mother from St. George but only said he had been drinking, not that he was drunk, the attorney told the jury.

Strong said Ames initially told police she was driving, not to protect Bedell, but to make sure auto insurance would cover damage to the vehicle, owned by her parents. Ames feared there would be no insurance coverage if an unlicensed driver was at the wheel at the time of the accident, according to Strong.

EMT Adam Miceli testified Monday that he heard the accident from his home near the scene. He ran to the scene through a damp, heavy mist to find the vehicle on its roof. One girl, later identified as Odette Lindsay, was trapped in the front seat, yelling. Miceli cut the girl out of her seat belt with trauma shears.

In the rear of the crumpled vehicle he found Isabel Lindsay, unconscious with rasping breathing noises. On top of her was Carignan. Miceli said by the time he arrived, only a few minutes after the accident, Carignan had no pulse and was not breathing.


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