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State of New Hampshire v. Williams3/18/1998
Following a jury trial, the defendant, Michael E. Williams, was convicted of disobeying an officer and aggravated driving while intoxicated. See RSA 265:4 (1995); RSA 265:82-a (1995) (amended 1996). On appeal, the defendant argues that the Superior Court (McHugh, J.) erred in denying both his pretrial motion to dismiss the charge of disobeying an officer and his pretrial motion to suppress certain items seized from his vehicle during the execution of a search warrant. The defendant also appeals the superior court's denial of his motion for a new trial. We affirm.
On April 9, 1994, Massachusetts and New Hampshire police officers pursued a Ford Mustang in an extended and often high- speed chase that began in Haverhill, Massachusetts, and ended in Atkinson when the vehicle crashed into a tree. Both occupants of the vehicle, the defendant and Robert Marena, suffered serious injuries requiring hospitalization. The defendant was later identified as the operator of the vehicle and charged with disobeying a police officer and aggravated driving while intoxicated.
At the trial, Officer Paul Malone of the Haverhill Police Department testified that in the early morning hours of April 9, 1994, he activated his emergency lights and followed the defendant's vehicle. Officer Malone observed the vehicle lose control, strike a building in downtown Haverhill, and continue traveling at a high rate of speed. The vehicle crossed the yellow line on numerous occasions and ran through several red lights. In Plaistow, Officer Scott Anderson of the Plaistow Police Department joined the pursuit.
Officer Anderson testified that while the vehicle was traveling at approximately twenty-five miles per hour, he observed a white male wearing a brown leather jacket and a baseball cap and identified the defendant as the operator of the vehicle. The officers chased the defendant through Plaistow and into Atkinson where the vehicle crashed into a tree. Upon arriving at the scene, the officers observed two persons, the defendant and Marena, in the hatchback portion of the vehicle. Officer Malone testified that he overheard the defendant admit that he was the operator of the vehicle to a member of the emergency medical team.
New Hampshire Highway Enforcement Officer Steven Hanley testified that an inspection of the defendant's vehicle did not reveal any defective components that may have directly caused or contributed to the accident. Pursuant to a search warrant, Officer Hanley seized several items from the vehicle including an empty six-pack cardboard beer container and an empty beer bottle. A technical reconstruction of the accident scene revealed that the defendant's vehicle was traveling over 100 miles per hour just prior to the crash.
Robert Marena, the other occupant of the vehicle, testified that he was not operating the defendant's vehicle at the time of the crash. On cross-examination, Marena stated that he wore a blue denim jacket with a leather collar on the evening of April 8, 1994. Defense witness Wallace Williams, the defendant's father, testified that while at the hospital on the morning of the accident, a staff member handed him two bags containing the defendant's and Marena's personal effects. Williams testified that Marena's bag contained a brown jacket. Williams also testified that while inspecting the vehicle he noticed the defendant's sunglasses located on the right hand side of the vehicle and Marena's sneaker under the driver's seat.
In his closing argument, the defendant argued that he was not operating the vehicle at the time of the pursuit and crash. The jury convicted the defendant on the charges of disobeying an officer and aggravated driving while
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