By LOHR McKINSTRY
Staff Writer
July 04, 2009 03:28 am
—
WILLSBORO — The Essex County district attorney's decision to drop drunk-driving charges against a former town supervisor could become an issue in her campaign for re-election.
In 1984, then-Essex Town Supervisor James R. Morse Jr. killed a woman while driving drunk in the Westport hamlet of Wadhams.
Twenty-five-years later, Morse, now 68, was arrested again by State Police for DWI, but the charge was dismissed by the County District Attorney's Office, citing lack of evidence.
Some residents are taking DA Julie Garcia to task for dismissing the charges against Morse.
But she says there wasn't enough evidence to go forward with the case.
"Our job is to do what's right, not what's popular. When there is not enough evidence to support a charge, it would be unethical for us to proceed."
SITTING IN TRUCK
Morse was sitting in his pickup truck at the Willsboro Public Boat Launch Site at about 4 p.m. April 6 when Trooper Frank Johnston was patrolling that area.
In his report, Johnston said Morse appeared to be sleeping and that the trooper rapped on his window. After Morse rolled the window down, Johnston noted that he appeared to have been drinking. The trooper said Morse admitted consuming two glasses of wine earlier that day.
The trooper said the keys were in the truck's ignition, but the engine was not running.
Morse had a 0.08 BAC, the same as what is now the threshold for drunk driving. He was charged with DWI and driving with a blood alcohol level of 0.08 or higher.
The DWI charge was considered a first offense because it had been more than 10 years since Morse's original arrest and conviction.
CASE FLAWS
Garcia said there were no witnesses who saw Morse drive, so there was no way to prove when he drove the truck to the boat launch.
In addition, she said, approaching someone in a vehicle legally parked in a public parking lot to check on their welfare may not constitute probable cause for a vehicle stop.
ACCUSES SPRAGUE
Garcia said she believes the alleged outrage over the case has been generated by her opponent in the Republican primary for DA, Kristy Sprague, who is an assistant district attorney in Clinton County.
"It appears my opponent's campaign is trying to make an issue with this case," Garcia said. "When a prosecutor uses these kinds of tactics to gain an advantage, it's reprehensible."
SPRAGUE DENIAL
Sprague said she doesn't believe this case should be a campaign issue and denied making it one.
"This has not been an issue made by me but by the current DA's very publicized and repeated message of zero reductions for drinking and driving."
She said Garcia should have known about the fatality associated with Morse's previous DWI arrest.
"The duty of a diligent prosecutor is to know your case and know it well prior to any disposition being offered. Second, never make a plea offer that you cannot justify or explain to the victim. The victim here is society as a whole when it comes to drinking and driving offenses."
'LET JURY DECIDE'
But Morse's previous record didn't have any bearing on the present case, Garcia said. She said the charges were considered on their own merit and whether they could be sustained in court.
Sprague countered that Garcia should have gone to trial and let a jury decide.
"My opinion is that to dismiss a DWI case — with the facts as I understand them to be and with the defendant's prior history — because it was a tough case and may be lost at trial is not a justifiable reason. That is what a jury is for. As a prosecutor, you need to have trust in the jurors to do their job."
Garcia said if she had proceeded, the case would likely have been dismissed before it ever got to trial.
SIMILAR CASE
Sprague said she prosecuted a case in Clinton County that had similar circumstances.
"William Lajoy was arrested for DWI (again) after he had killed Karen Fleury in the early '80s, while he was intoxicated and operating a motor vehicle.
"It was a tough case, involving an extrapolation expert to determine the defendant's blood-alcohol-content level.
"I did not plead it down, nor did I dismiss it. I made the decision to try the case, even though it was a hard case to prove. I tried the case in front of a jury, and I won. The defendant was sentenced to the maximum jail time allowable under the law."
BARRETT WEIGHS IN
The independent candidate for Essex County DA, Brian Barrett of Lake Placid, said that, based on his knowledge of the case, Garcia did the right thing in dismissing the DWI charges.
"I would say that Julie has exercised her sound discretion as the district attorney of this county in choosing not to prosecute this case. She did so because the evidence was not there."
He said DAs are faced with such decisions all the time, and they shouldn't be campaign issues.
"Testing a person's breath to determine their blood-alcohol content is near voodoo, and when someone's BAC is at the absolute bare minimum and they were not seen driving, then there is a problem with the evidence. Prosecuting a case without evidence is like driving a car without gas. It's a pointless waste of time and resources. It doesn't work."
PAST DWI
In Morse's case, the recent charge was reduced from misdemeanor DWI to failure to keep right, a traffic violation, as part of a plea agreement.
He appeared before Willsboro Town Justice Kenneth Coonrod and paid $110 in fines and costs.
Morse was first arrested for DWI in January 1984, after he hit Olive Anson and her sister-in-law, Georgianna Anson, who were crossing the street in Wadhams after an evening meeting at the Grange Hall. Olive Anson was killed instantly, and her sister-in-law was seriously injured.
Morse's blood-alcohol reading was 0.13, and the legal limit was 0.10 at that time.
An Essex County grand jury declined to indict Morse for manslaughter. He pleaded guilty to DWI in March 1985 and was fined $500 and placed on three years probation.
E-mail Lohr McKinstry at: lmckinstry@pressrepublican.com
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