Dunphy Farris was represented by a former colleague Renee L. Steese at the hearing.
Craig Barton pleaded guilty to vehicular homicide.NORTHAMPTON — A lawyer representing one of the defendants in a civil lawsuit filed by the family of Frederick S. Kareta III against Craig A. Barton, the driver who killed him, is arguing that the police procedure in the case was so “fatally flawed,” it could reverse Barton’s conviction for motor vehicle homicide.
Barton’s Lexus was traveling an estimated 61 mph in a 35 mph zone on Aug. 28, 2010, when it struck Kareta as he was gathering his aunt’s mail on the lawn of her South Hadley home. Kareta, 22, was knocked out of his shoes and propelled 80 feet by the impact. He died of massive injuries.
Barton, a juvenile court lawyer from Westfield, had been drinking at The Orchards country club in South Hadley prior to the accident. According to prosecutors, he was speeding and en route to another bar in Holyoke when he ran off the road, hit Kareta and slammed into another car.
Barton pleaded guilty last year to motor vehicle homicide while under the influence of alcohol and was sentenced to a five- to seven-year state prison term. However, a lawyer for The Orchards maintained in court this month that a civil lawsuit against her client could result in the reversal of that sentence.
Kareta’s parents and his estate filed the suit against Barton, the Orchards and Century Golf Partnership, the corporation that owns the club, seeking damages for his death.
On May 3, the parties in the case argued a motion by the Northwestern district attorney’s office to prevent the deposition of former deputy first assistant district attorney Elizabeth Dunphy Farris about conflicting police reports. Judge C. Jeffrey Kinder agreed in Hampshire Superior Court to quash the subpoena, ruling that Dunphy Farris has no personal knowledge of relevant information that is otherwise unavailable to the defense in the civil lawsuit.
Late last year, the defense also had its attempt to have the lawsuit dismissed refused by another judge; in that motion, it was argued that Barton exhibited no signs of intoxication when staff at the club served him alcohol. Prosecutors said Barton had at least four alcoholic drinks at the Orchards and that a waitress there cut him off.
In the latest defense action, Alexandra Power, who represents the Orchards, maintained that South Hadley police denied Barton his right to see a doctor after taking him into custody and subsequently altered the police report to cover up that action. According to Power, police Sgt. Mark Baran originally reported that Barton began asking to see a doctor and requested to go to an emergency room. Police told Barton they would grant those requests only after he took a Breathalyzer test, according to that report.
Jamie Magarian, a state police investigator assigned to the case, became “infuriated” after reading the report and told Baran he had committed a “fatal flaw,” according to Power. In a deposition for the case, Magarian testified that a suspect’s right to a doctor has nothing to do with submitting to a Breathalyzer, which tests for levels of alcohol in the blood. Although he said he was “infuriated” by the mistake, Magarian said he did not tell Baran to change the report.
In a separate deposition, another investigator assigned to the district attorney’s office, trooper David A. Strycharz, testified he observed Dunphy Farris become “loud and mad” about Baran’s original report. Baran subsequently wrote a different report in which he stated Barton had asked to “call” his doctor but never asked to go to an emergency room.
Power sought to subpoena Dunphy Farris, but the district attorney’s office filed a motion to prevent it from happening, saying the former prosecutor had no personal knowledge of the case and was not involved in the final prosecution.
Dunphy Farris moved to a new job with the Hampden district attorney’s office by the time of Barton’s guilty plea. Her former boss, then-Northwestern district attorney Elizabeth D. Scheibel, left office in January 2011 and was succeeded by David E. Sullivan, whose office is now handling the matter.
Dunphy Farris was represented by a former colleague Renee L. Steese at the hearing. Steese was first assistant district attorney under Scheibel and now works in private practice at the South Hadley law firm of Ryan, Boudreau, Randall, Kirkpatrick & Baker at which Scheibel’s husband, Paul D. Boudreau, is a partner.