FARMINGTON – The other survivor of a fiery crash which killed a Dover-Foxcroft man in 2007 testified in court today that the defendant was driving the vehicle when it crashed through a telephone pole.
The trial of Ryan Hurd, 23, of Lincoln, on the charges of manslaughter and aggravated operation of a vehicle while under the influence entered the second day Wednesday, with the defense expected to begin presenting its case tomorrow.
The state is trying to prove that Hurd was the driver of a 2002 Pontiac Grand Prix on the New Vineyard Road on Oct. 17, 2007, when it went off the road while traveling southbound, sheared through a telephone pole and flipped upside down, bursting into flames. Terry Richardson, Jr., 34, of Dover-Foxcroft, was killed as a result of the crash.
Also trapped in the car was Chad Bernier, of Medway, who was extricated by rescue workers and transported to Central Maine Medical Center, in Lewiston, via a LifeFlight helicopter. He spent the next three months recovering from injuries to his head, spine, sternum and internal bruising to his lungs.
Bernier testified in court today, saying that the last thing he remembered before the accident was Hurd getting into the driver’s seat.
Neither the District Attorney’s Office nor the defendant’s attorney, Richard Hartley, has argued that Hurd, Bernier and Richardson were all over the legal limit when the accident occurred, or that the accident directly led to the death of Richardson. Therefore, the identity of the vehicle’s driver becomes the critical factor for the jury.
Bernier said that the three men began drinking after getting off work in Kingfield on Oct. 16, 2007, having beers at a small barbecue. According to Bernier, they then drank a fifth of hard liquor and another bottle of liquor purchased in Kingfield. They then decided to drive to Farmington to go to a bar and watch a baseball World Series game.
Bernier said he did not recall the three men stopping for high-gravity beer at Cumberland Farms, although Maine State Police investigators later obtained a receipt from that convenience store that authenticated the purchase of the beer. A carton of high-gravity beer was found at the crash scene.
He said he did remember going to The Dugout Bar & Grill, although Bernier did not know the name at that time. Bernier also said he didn’t know the bar was in Farmington, thinking at the time that the establishment was located somewhere in Kingfield. At the bar they drank beer, Bernier said, adding that Richardson and he shared a marijuana joint outside of the bar.
Upon leaving, Bernier said he could remember their being a debate with some other patrons that Richardson should drive. Bernier said he did not remember who had made the recommendation.
“Someone wanted T.J. [Terry Richardson] to drive,” Bernier testified. “They didn’t think Ryan [Hurd] could drive.”
Bernier said that he himself had never driven Hurd’s vehicle, as his license had been suspended. He admitted in court, to Assistant District Attorney James Andrews, to a criminal record consisting of operation under the influence and three operating after the suspension of license convictions.
Richardson was operating the vehicle when it left Farmington, Bernier said. Then, at some point, Bernier told the other two men that they had gone the wrong way and Richardson pulled over. Hurd then told Richardson he wanted to drive, Bernier testified.
“He wanted to drive his car,” Bernier said today. He then recalled that Hurd pulled the emergency brake, making the tires squeal, and buckling his seat belt.
Bernier said he could not remember the actual crash, and only limited portions of the following hours and days. He recalled being extricated from the vehicle, being in the helicopter and waking up at CMMC. However, he claimed to have no memory of his first interview with police and told Lifeflight personnel that he did not remember the accident.
Hartley, during his cross-examination, pointed to Bernier not remembering buying beer at Cumberland Farms, thinking that the Dugout was in Kingfield and generally spotty memory as evidence toward Bernier’s inability to remember exactly who was driving before the accident. Bernier repeatedly said he couldn’t remember things that had happened after the accident, such as details of his interviews with investigators, saying that “it’s been a while.”
Andrews noted that Bernier himself had been initially hesitant to tell investigators, during a second interview, that he thought Hurd had been driving. When asked by Andrews, Bernier said that he had considered Hurd and Richardson friends.
“I didn’t want to get anyone in trouble,” Bernier said.
Also testifying Wednesday were Maine State Police Troopers Joshua Birmingham and Aaron Turcotte, who outlined their investigation and interviews with Hurd. Both testified that Hurd had confessed to driving the vehicle and said he had expressed concern that he may have killed his friends because they made him drive.
Hartley, however, pointed to parts of the interviews in which Hurd said that Richardson or Bernier were driving. At other times, including throughout an interview conducted on Oct. 19, 2007, at Hurd’s home, Hurd said he did not remember who had been driving that night.
The defense presented one witness today, a Lifeflight nurse, before the state has rested. It is anticipated that other defense witnesses will begin testifying tomorrow. The trial has been scheduled to run until the end of the week, with additional days available after Memorial Day.
