Court upholds Corinna man's manslaughter conviction
7/24/09 | 6 comments

Court upholds Corinna man's manslaughter conviction


By Diana Bowley
BDN Staff

DOVER-FOXCROFT, Maine -- The Maine Supreme Judicial Court has upheld the manslaughter conviction against a Corinna man whose excessive speed in 2005 caused a fatal accident on Route 7.

In his appeal, Bradley S. Theriault, 30, claimed the evidence presented during his jury-waived trial in July 2008 in Piscataquis County Superior Court was insufficient to both support the court's finding that excessive speed was used and the finding of guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.

Theriault was sentenced by Justice William Anderson to 10 years in prison with all but three years suspended and he is currently serving his sentence.

Court testimony during the 2008 trial showed that Theriault was criminally negligent when he passed five vehicles on Route 7 on Aug. 24, 2005, at a high rate of speed and lost control of his vehicle, which subsequently crashed. His passenger, John Sokoloski, 21, of Dexter, was killed.

The high court found the testimony of four of the drivers who Theriault had passed immediately before the accident was consistent. That testimony and the testimony of the state's expert found that excessive speed was well supported, according to the ruling.

The speed, as well as the testimony that he passed five vehicles at once on a road that was in bad condition, supported the court's determination that Theriault failed to be aware of the risk from his conduct and that this failure amounted to a ''a gross deviation from the standard of conduct that a reasonable and prudent person would observe in the same situation,'' according to the decision.

Piscataquis County District Attorney R. Christopher Almy said Friday that he was pleased with the Supreme Court's decision.

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Comments
6 comments on this item
On 7/24/09 at 2:28 PM, anthoine wrote:         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden

i can't believe this guy. he has the gall to try to weasel his way out of a sentence which was way to lenient to begin with. he has 3 years, out in 2 and the other kid is gone. shut up and do your time jerk. you should have done the whole 10 years. it was all fun and games when you were driving that day, not so funny now huh? have you even shown or have remorse for the other poor kid who is gone? i doubt it.

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On 7/24/09 at 3:55 PM, redsoxnation wrote:         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden

Anthoine. Tell us how you really feel..

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On 7/24/09 at 4:12 PM, misserygirl28 wrote:         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden

you know what he did may be doing his time and yes he has every right to try and get an appeal he may have done everything you say but you all are forgetting one thing he lost his bestfriend that day and that is something he will never get back you all can judge who ever you want but you wasn't there that day and neither was anyone else but witnesses. hes made an effort to appoligise to the family. so i think you all need to back off and grow up and stop being so judgemental

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On 7/24/09 at 4:42 PM, sammigurl wrote:         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden

If he had been thinking about his best friend at the time instead of being an idiot, he might still have his friend. Everyone knows that if you drive like a maniac, especially on a bad road like Route 7, there is a very good chance you will lose control of the vehicle. I agree with anthoine that he should have served the whole sentence. What is the point of giving a sentence and suspending the majority of it. Just say it like it is, he's only getting put away for 3 years for taking someone's life. You ought to try and use punctuation and spell check next time. Maybe people would actually take your comment seriously!

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On 7/24/09 at 6:52 PM, misserygirl28 wrote:         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden

sammigurl why don't you learn to spell girl for one and its not a blame game here what about all the murders that gets off noone ever complaines about them and i'm not going to your guys level

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On 7/24/09 at 7:10 PM, ydnar723 wrote:         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden

I believe people do complain when the "murderers" (check your spelling too) get off the hook with easy sentences. I must say 3 years for acting like an idtiot and killing your best friend is a bit in the way of an easy sentence. This will be another example of why people continue to drive like morons all the time, serve a couple of years get 3 square meals a day, all at no cost.

I believe the other word missery you are looking for was "complains" not complaines.

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