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Name:
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GoneFishin
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Subject:
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Interesting Trial
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Date:
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9/22/2008 10:40:14 PM
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I m in Maine for the summer and have been following this trial. The case is with the jury and i will post the verdict. This is NOT intended to begin a BIG boat discussion.
"During the six days of testimony in the manslaughter trial of Robert LaPointe, Maine's boating laws have emerged as a focus of debate.
Prosecutors have said that LaPointe's violations of those laws – including allegations that he was drunk and going too fast – make him criminally responsible for the deaths of two people in a boat crash on Long Lake.
LaPointe's attorneys say that he was not intoxicated and that he operated his boat carefully at all times.
Terry Raye Trott, 55, of Harrison and Suzanne Groetzinger, 44, of Berwick died when Trott's boat was run over by LaPointe's boat around 9 p.m. on Aug. 11, 2007.
For those who are following the trial in Cumberland County Superior Court in Portland, the testimony has raised questions about what the regulations are for boaters in Maine, and who is responsible for enforcing them.
LaPointe, 39, of Medway, Mass., is charged with manslaughter, aggravated drunken driving and reckless conduct with a dangerous weapon. The state says LaPointe's blood alcohol content was 0.11 percent when it was taken three hours after the crash. Maine's legal limit for operating a car or a boat is 0.08 percent.
LaPointe's lawyers have questioned the reliability of the blood test.
As the trial has unfolded, defense lawyers have suggested that Trott's apparent violations of boating laws caused the crash. A boat reconstruction expert called by the state testified that Trott's rear "all-around" light was not working as required by law and he might not have had a proper sounding device on his motorboat.
Maj. John Fetterman, deputy chief of the Maine Marine Patrol, said Maine's Boat Law is based on the rules laid out in the federal Boat Safety Act of 1971. Those rules are maintained and updated by the U.S. Coast Guard, and they are known as the Inland Navigation Rules, "Nav Rules" for short.
Most states, including Maine, have updated their laws to reflect changes in the federal rules, Fetterman said.
The Maine Warden Service is responsible for enforcing the law on Maine's lakes and ponds, and the Marine Patrol is responsible for enforcement along the coast, with some overlap between the two agencies. County district attorney's offices prosecute criminal violations of the law.
The Warden Service investigated the crash on Long Lake last summer, and the state has called several wardens to testify in LaPointe's trial.
At the time of the crash, LaPointe was operating his 32-foot Sunsation Dominator, named No Patience, with twin 425-horsepower engines.
He and a passenger, Nicole Randall, were heading north on the lake en route to the Harrison Marina, which is owned by Randall's parents.
Trott was operating a 14-foot Glasspar runabout, named Sting Raye, equipped with a 115-horsepower outboard. Trott and his girlfriend, Groetzinger, had gone out to watch the Perseids meteor shower.
William Chilcott, a boat reconstruction expert, and Warden Kevin Anderson testified that both LaPointe and Trott apparently violated boating rules.
Both witnesses said that because LaPointe was the one coming up from behind, his duty to avoid a collision outweighed the duty Trott had to maintain proper lighting.
Chilcott and Anderson said LaPointe's unsafe speed was the cause of the crash.
Fetterman, the outgoing president of the National Association of State Boating Law Administrators, said investigators often have to determine cause and assign fault in cases in which multiple boaters violate safety laws.
Wardens and Marine Patrol officers investigate an average of 12 to 15 recreational boating fatalities each year, Fetterman said.
LaPointe's speed has come up repeatedly in the trial. In a recorded interview with a warden, LaPointe said he was going about 45 mph. Other witnesses estimated his speed at between 40 and 65 mph.
There are no speed limits for boats under Maine law. And most lakes, including Long Lake, do not have horsepower restrictions.
Local restrictions for specific bodies of water can be approved, through the state Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife.
Instead of speed or horsepower limits, the law requires boaters to operate "at a reasonable and prudent speed for existing conditions," and to avoid collisions. Prosecutors and LaPointe's lawyers disagree on whether he obeyed that law.
For lighting, Trott was required to have a green light on the front right side of his boat and a red light on the front left side.
Those lights had to be visible from at least one mile in clear conditions on a dark night. He was also required to have a white "all-around" light on the rear of his boat, which would be visible from at least two miles.
During the trial, some witnesses have said they saw no lights on Trott's boat. Another witness testified that he saw the green and red lights.
Chilcott told jurors that he inspected the all-around light on Trott's boat and that he does not believe it was working, based on the condition of the filament.
Several witnesses have said that all of LaPointe's navigational lights were working.
The rules required LaPointe to have a bright white light at the front of his boat and a white all-around light at the rear, as well as the green and red side lights toward the front of the vessel."
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