Maine news, sports, weather from Portland Press Herald / Maine Sunday Telegram, Portland, Maine

Family may sue over chase, fatal crash

TREVOR MAXWELL

— By

Staff Writer

The family of a Standish man says that negligence by Cumberland County sheriff's deputies might have played a role in the motorcycle crash that killed him last summer.

Patrick Smith, 47, died eight days after a high-speed chase ended with the accident in Buxton on July 12, 2008.

The lawyer for Smith's family has served the county with a notice of claim, which basically reserves the right to file a wrongful-death lawsuit within the next six months.

But the lawyer, Harry Center, says he can't decide whether any lawsuit is warranted because the sheriff's office has refused to release some records relating to the incident. So Center has filed a separate lawsuit seeking police reports and other documents under the state's Freedom of Access law.

''The family has a right to that information,'' Center said Tuesday. ''We want to know what they are hiding. Why won't they turn it over?''

An attorney for the county said officials have nothing to hide. Patricia Dunn said the sheriff's office has already provided some of the information requested by Center, including an accident report prepared by Buxton police.

Other documents, such as the county's internal report on the incident and a recording of emergency radio communications, are confidential under state law, Dunn said.

''This falls under the records that have been designated confidential by statute,'' she said.

The next step is for the parties to submit legal briefs. It will then be up to a judge in Cumberland County Superior Court to determine which side is correct.

''We just want to know the facts,'' Center said. ''If the reports demonstrate there is not civil liability, then we will not pursue the claim.''

Around 9:30 on the night of July 12, Smith was driving his Harley-Davidson motorcycle on Cape Road in Standish, according to Cumberland County Chief Deputy Kevin Joyce.

Andrew Feeney, a deputy, saw the motorcycle on the wrong side of the road and began pursuing it, Joyce said.

Feeney chased Smith for about four miles. Smith slowed a few times for stop signs, but otherwise was traveling between 65 and 95 mph, often in the wrong lane, Joyce said.

Feeney lost sight of Smith near the Buxton town line. Joyce said Feeney saw dust in the air at the entrance to Warren Road, so he continued in that direction.

The deputy then saw Smith face down in the middle of Warren Road, and his motorcycle in a ditch, Joyce said.

''Once Feeney got there, he and another officer performed first aid,'' Joyce said.

Smith was taken by ambulance to Maine Medical Center in Portland, where he remained in critical condition for eight days, until he died on July 20.

The incident prompted an internal review by the sheriff's office, which ultimately supported Feeney.

The county discourages prolonged high-speed pursuits of suspects who are known and can be apprehended later, or pursuits for a single infraction such as speeding or failing to stop at a stop sign.

Deputies and their supervisors have discretion to continue chasing drivers who are suspected of being drunk or driving to endanger. Officers must consider the safety of the public, the suspects and themselves.

Feeney made the proper decisions and followed county protocol, Joyce said. ''The bottom line is, there was no inappropriate action.''

The fight over the police records will test competing sections within Maine law. On one hand, the Freedom of Access Act provides broad public access to documents from government agencies, and the Legislature has expressed an intent to make available as much information as possible. Center argues that the records he seeks fall under that provision.

On the other hand, the state's Criminal History Record Information Act provides a legal argument for keeping certain records confidential.

For example, government reports with information about ongoing criminal investigations or tactical police strategies are considered exempt from the Freedom of Access law.

Staff Writer Trevor Maxwell can be contacted at 791-6451 or at:

tmaxwell@pressherald.com