A superior court judge has convicted a former National Guard sergeant from Massachusetts of causing a drunken driving car crash on Main Street that left two bicyclists injured, one of them severely.
In a seven-page order, Judge David Sullivan found Adam Lamothe, 26, guilty of aggravated driving while intoxicated for running over the bicyclists. Sullivan also convicted Lamothe of two counts of leaving the scene of an accident for hitting two parked cars 20 minutes before he ran over the bicyclists.
Lamothe, who will be sentenced Dec. 4 in Merrimack County Superior Court, faces 3½ to seven years in prison on the drunken driving charge and up to one year in jail for each of the charges of conduct after an accident.
Lamothe admitted during his trial, held last month without a jury at Lamothe's request, that he was drunk when he ran over Daniel Gallant and Adam Boyer in front of The Draft in 2007. He was in Concord attending a military event, he said, and was trying to get back to his hotel after a night of drinks at the now-closed Capitol Grille.
But Lamothe and his attorney, James Dennehy of Concord, blamed the bicyclists for their injuries, saying they had darted in front of Lamothe too late for him to react. Boyer's injuries were so serious that he spent two months in the hospital and still has no memory of the crash.
Sullivan rejected the defense's theory.
"The accident was a completely avoidable and unnecessary accident caused solely by the defendant's severe intoxication, which interfered with his ability to keep a proper lookout and control of his vehicle," Sullivan wrote.
Elsewhere in the order, Sullivan described Lamothe as "stumbling drunk" and "extremely intoxicated" on Aug. 17, 2007, the night of the crash.
"There is no evidence that the bicyclists suddenly swerved in front of the defendant's vehicle," Sullivan wrote.
Dennehy said yesterday he will review the case for appeal issues. One point, he said, will likely be contradictory evidence over the cause of the crash.
He said prosecutor Wayne Coull of the Merrimack County Attorney's Office provided no evidence that Lamothe had caused the accident while a defense expert showed Lamothe wasn't responsible.
"I'm at a loss," Dennehy said of Sullivan's verdict.
Sullivan disagreed in his order.
At trial, Coull relied on the testimony of Concord police Detective Michael Cassidy, who concluded Lamothe was responsible after reviewing witness statements, Lamothe's damaged car and the crumpled bicycles, and a surveillance video that caught the end of the crash.
Dennehy hired former Concord police officer Carl Lakowicz of Northpoint Collision Consultants in Gilmanton. Lakowicz testified at length about how he believed the speed of Lamothe's car, the speed of the bicyclists and the physical length of the crash scene cleared Lamothe of responsibility.
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