PARIS, Maine — Both sides in the case against Kristina Lowe, the driver in a fatal West Paris crash in January, have a week to submit additional information to Justice Robert Clifford as the defense works to keep statements she made from a hospital bed out of court.
Defense attorney James Howaniec filed a motion to suppress what Lowe, 19, told a Maine State Police trooper the morning after the crash. Lowe told the officer she’d been texting at the time of the crash. Howaniec said the teen’s testimony is inadmissible because it had been taken when she had been given strong painkillers and had not been read her Miranda rights.
Lowe is charged with two counts of manslaughter, two counts of operating under the influence causing death, and one count of aggravated leaving the scene of an accident. The crash killed Rebecca Mason, 16, of West Paris and Logan Dam, 19, of Norway. In June, she pleaded not guilty to the charges.
The state and Howaniec have until next week to submit information to Clifford, who will evaluate it and make a decision on whether to suppress Lowe’s statements.
Motion to suppress teen driver’s statements pending additional information
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She had taken strong painkiller drugs before she told the cops
what she was doing before the fatal crash.
That may nullify the fact she was texting when the deadly crash occurred.
Painkiller’s aside, it the MSP did what they were trained to do (Read’em their right’s when the cuff’s get slapped on) then the statement’s are admissable. Once the right’s are read that’s it, they’re read and that fact is documented in the arrest report. Should the Trooper have re-read her her right’s when he was interviewing her again ? Maybe but that’s his call, on the spot, and NO ONE has the right, besides the Court, to Monday morning quaterback the Trooper. The painkiller’s are another issue, that being were they sufficient to render the teen’s judgement ineffective in making a informed decision about their situation. And that is what the Judge needs to focus on, not a prefunctory procedural issue. It’s also a medical issue that the Judge needs to review WITH proper medical knowledge being provided so the Judge can make a informed determination and rule appropriately.
I would also hope that the MSP and the DA have subpoenaed the teen’s phone carrier to obtain the text record’s, including the TIME THAT THE ACCIDENT HAPPENED. If the text record shows that she was texting at the time fo the accident, it’s over and no hospital interview is worth doodle. The evidence does it all.
We don’t know if she was technically in custody and or being interrogated in the hospital bed, or was it more like a cop asking a motorist “how much have you had to drink”.
The Miranda warning (also referred to as Miranda rights) is a warning given by police in the United States to criminal suspects in police custody (or in a custodial interrogation) before they are interrogated to preserve the admissibility of their statements against them in criminal proceedings.
In Berghuis v. Thompkins, the Court held that unless a suspect actually states that he is relying on this right, his subsequent voluntary statements can be used in court, and police can continue to interact with (or question) him.
Now that I’m done playing a SCJ it will be interesting, but would be better to guess with all the facts the judge will be given.
Oh my God ! Someone else can actually read Supreme and State Supreme Court decision’s. There is hope yet for us all !
:) But not all of us. I’m just a very curios mechanic who wants to know “just the facts, Ma’am’! Lousy memory of this stuff, though
I don’t normally jump in and correct grammar and punctuation like so many others are quick to do, but I’m going to this time.
Mike- you seem like a person who has his head on straight, your thoughts are clear, well thought out, and you express them in an understandable way. That being said, PLEASE learn when an apostrophe is appropriate, and when it’s not. Incorrect punctuation is the quickest way to give people the impression that you are not as smart as you appear to be.
With the exception of the contractions, the only correct use of an apostrophe in your comment is when you speak of the teen’s judgement and phone carrier. An apostrophe is used to show possession (the judgement belongs to the teen), not to pluralize (painkillers, rights, etc).
Please don’t think I’m trying to insult you, as that’s not my intention. If I were, I’d just correct you, and not tell you that I enjoy reading what you write. :o)
Go teach English and not try to tell anyone else how to read or express themselves.
PS; I had to write arrest report’s and lesson plans for 29 + years. The pot does not to be told it’s black !
I love these types of debates. The cops want to nail her for the wreck, that’s their job. She is on strong pain killers, they alter brain functioning. She was asked what she was doing before the wreck, and she said, “texting.” So the cops cuff and stuff her because they have a crime, who cares about the drugs she is on. Had she answered the question with something like, “I was flying on the wings of an emerald dragon in a purple sky flanked by winged horses.” then its the drugs. So the prevailing theory as far as I can see is, if they tell the cops what the cop wants to here, it’s not the drugs. Inane babbling, it’s the drugs.
she was drunk, high, and texting while driving at a high rate of speed. she lost control of her car and 2 people got killed because of it. one of the 2 victims may have still been alive when ms lowe left the scene of the accident and went back to the party. after several minutes they partygoers finally called 911 to report the accident.
by that time, both victims that were still in the car were dead.
she killed 2 people.
lock her away for the rest of her life.