Prosecutors want to disqualify Owen Labrie’s attorney, Jaye Rancourt, from representing him as he argues for a new trial because of ineffective counsel.
In two motions filed Tuesday, prosecutors argued Rancourt played an integral role in his trial defense and should be barred from representing his claims that his lawyers failed to represent him effectively. Rancourt participated in a final pretrial conference, advocated for the defense in a meeting with the judge at the end of the trial, and “personally prepared and filed the notice of appeal” afterward, they wrote.
“That Attorney Rancourt . . . prepared and filed the notice of appeal further belies any suggestion that she was not functioning as a member of the trial team,” wrote deputy county attorney Catherine Ruffle.
Earlier this month, Labrie petitioned for a new trial, claiming his former defense team, led by Boston defender J.W. Carney, waited too long to contest the computer felony charge on which he was ultimately convicted.
The 20-year-old St. Paul’s graduate, now a registered sex offender serving a year in jail for statutory rape, says the attorneys failed to object before or during trial to the relevance of the charge, and that they further stumbled by not pressing for more exhaustive juror instructions on it.
In the petition, Rancourt claimed Carney moved to have her presence waived at trial, against her objections.
“The court granted this request over attorney Rancourt’s expressed concerns that she could not fulfill her obligations to Mr. Labrie and the court, should she be excused from trial,” she wrote.
But Ruffle said Rancourt expressed no concerns about fulfilling her obligations, and instead only asked to ensure Labrie was okay with the arrangement. He was.
Ruffle has asked to depose Rancourt and Carney, as well as Carney’s associate Sam Zaganjori, who helped argue at trial. Rancourt has yet to respond in court.
Labrie has appealed his convictions to the state Supreme Court but has delayed it as he pursues his ineffective counsel arguments in Merrimack County Superior Court. He has also appealed a decision last month to revoke his bail for repeated curfew violations. That appeal is moving forward.
(Jeremy Blackman can be reached at 369-3319, jblackman@cmonitor.com or on Twitter @JBlackmanCM.)