Court officials Friday refused to make available a copy of the indictment that erroneously said the driver in the fatal Mechanic Falls hayride crash last fall had been charged with manslaughter.
The Androscoggin County grand jury handed up indictments Wednesday related to the crash, charging the corporation Harvest Hill Farms with manslaughter, aggravated assault and other offenses. A news release from District Attorney Andrew Robinson said the driver of the wagon also was indicted for manslaughter.
But Robinson issued a news release the next day saying that was a mistake, and that his announcement was based on an incorrect indictment form that the grand jury had issued. The form said David Brown, 55, had been indicted for manslaughter, aggravated assault, driving to endanger and reckless conduct, when the grand jury had voted to indict Brown only for reckless conduct, the same charge brought against the farm’s mechanic, Peter Theberge, 38.
Robinson said it was a clerical error that was called to his attention the next day. He submitted to the court a corrected indictment sheet, which was available Friday.
Staff at Androscoggin County Superior Court in Auburn refused a request by the Portland Press Herald to provide a copy of the erroneous indictment, saying it was not public and referring inquiries to Superior Court Chief Justice Roland Cole.
A spokeswoman for Cole said he had no comment on the mistaken report, but she was unable to say whether the document had actually been impounded by the judge.
Indictments are court documents based on information presented by the district attorney. Court staff members are not in the grand jury room when it is deliberating. They are informed of the grand jury’s decisions by the indictment sheets – which are signed by the grand jury foreman and are public records – and by a separate grand jury report, which the clerks said is confidential.
Robinson did not respond to a request for an interview Friday.
The indictments list the names of the 22 people who were hurt in the Oct. 11 crash and survived, as well as Cassidy Charette of Oakland, the 17-year-old Messalonskee High School student who died.
A handful of those people have filed notices of claims against the farm, although none has filed a lawsuit yet, said Jonathan Brogan, the attorney handling civil litigation for the farm. He said he has spoken with attorneys for each of the people who were injured in the crash.
Brogan said he does not expect the cases will go to trial.
“Our hope is we can have these resolved before too long,” he said, adding that might mean within a year. He said there are few issues in dispute from a civil standpoint.
Brogan would not confirm that the farm has between $7 million and $11 million in liability coverage, as has been previously reported. However, he said the farm had ample coverage.
“There won’t be any problem with the (plaintiffs) being shortchanged,” he said.
Brogan was not able to explain why the farm’s owner, Peter Bolduc, has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on behalf of the corporation that owns the land on which the farm and other enterprises are tenants. Bolduc listed personal injury claims as the biggest claims facing the company. That case is being handled by a different firm, he said.
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