New trial for man convicted in fatal crash

PALMER — A man convicted of criminally negligent homicide for a wreck that killed a snowmachiner in 2003 will receive a new trial, the state court of appeals ruled Wednesday.

Joseph O’Brien, 40, was convicted in 2006 of negligent homicide. The case stemmed from a crash on the Parks Highway on Jan. 6, 2003. O’Brien was driving a pickup he once described as a “piece of junk,” according to Frontiersman reports from the resulting trial.

The 1987 Mitsubishi had dim headlights and the defroster wasn’t on. It was 5 degrees out that night. At Mile 52.6 at about 6 p.m. O’Brien hit Calvin Toal, 30, who was riding his snowmachine either on or beside the highway, depending on which account of the accident you believe.

The prosecutor then, Suzanne Powell, pointed to witness accounts that O’Brien swerved onto the shoulder and hit Toal. She also argued at the trial that O’Brien should never have taken a pickup in such disrepair onto the road in the first place.

But, according to an opinion penned by appeals court judge David Mannheimer, there was one crucial piece of evidence left out at trial. Autopsy reports showed Toal had a blood-alcohol content of .092 at the time of his death – legally over the limit for driving of .08. Superior Court Judge Eric Smith ruled that piece of evidence inadmissible.

Mannheimer summed up Smith’s decision by saying the judge ruled the evidence wouldn’t have proven one way or the other whether it was O’Brien that caused Toal’s death.

“The fact that the victim of a homicide was negligent, and thereby contributed to causing their own death, is ordinarily not a defense,” Mannheimer wrote. “However, regardless of whether the victim acted negligently, the victim’s conduct can be relevant when assessing whether the defendant acted negligently.”

There were two versions of what happened that night, Mannheimer wrote. The prosecution argued that Toal was riding along the shoulder of the highway and that O’Brien swerved suddenly and struck him.

But O’Brien’s public defender Lee de Grazia argued that Toal was in O’Brien’s lane, moving toward the pickup. She argued that both drivers swerved to miss each other and, unfortunately, ended up in the same spot.

Mannheimer wrote that the jury at trial was asked to decide which version of the crash was more likely.

“The snowmachine driver’s intoxication was relevant to that determination. If the snowmachine driver was intoxicated, this would make it more likely that the snowmachine was being driven in the middle of the highway,” Mannheimer wrote.

It would also be more likely, Mannheimer wrote, that Toal would swerve to the shoulder at the same time as O’Brien.

“A jury finding in O’Brien’s favor on this issue would provide support for O’Brien’s contention that he reacted in a reasonable manner to an imminent peril, and that the collision could not be attributed to the defects in his vehicle,” Mannheimer wrote.

Court records show no new hearings have been scheduled in O’Brien’s case as of Friday afternoon.

Contact Andrew Wellner at andrew.wellner@frontiersman.com or 352-2270.