March 29, 2024
BANGOR DAILY NEWS (BANGOR, MAINE

Defense questions accident reconstruction

PORTLAND — The lawyer for a former sheriff’s deputy accused of causing a fatal crash tried to cast doubt on reports that showed she was traveling at between 83 mph and 86 mph.

Peter Marchesi questioned witnesses about variables, such as the friction of the road, used in a state police accident reconstruction.

Marchesi also showed jurors a section of the sheriff’s department manual that tells deputies they can depart from general orders, such as speed restrictions, “if the situation dictates.”

Deborah Hall’s speed is important because to convict her of manslaughter, prosecutors must prove beyond a reasonable doubt that her conduct was a “gross deviation” from the actions of a reasonable and prudent person under the circumstances.

State police put the blame on Hall for a July 8, 1998, accident that killed two brothers from Flemington, N.J., who were vacationing in Maine.

John Norton III, 18, was turning off Route 302 in Raymond, onto the road leading to the family’s summer cottage, when Hall’s cruiser struck their car broadside.

He and his 15-year-old brother, Matthew, were killed. Their mother, Michelle Norton, was also in the car but escaped with minor injuries.

Hall had been passing a line of cars with her lights on, while responding to a report about an out-of-control child.

One of the motorists she passed, Jennifer Soucier, told the packed courtroom that “it was like being passed by a tractor trailer on the interstate.”

Prosecutors say Hall gave inadequate warning by turning off her siren so she could hear what dispatchers were saying over the radio.


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