SKOWHEGAN – A Skowhegan man who was on the list for hearings this month before the Governor’s Board on Executive Clemency has withdrawn his request for a pardon.

Bryan Carrier, 35, whose license to drive was revoked permanently after a 1996 drunken-driving crash that killed three people, had requested a pardon to get his license back to visit his daughter in Canada.

Carrier pleaded guilty in 1997 in Somerset County Superior Court to three counts of manslaughter and three counts of aggravated operating under the influence. His driver’s license was suspended for life.

“He will not be at the hearing,” said Scott Fish, director of special projects at the Department of Corrections. “He basically just canceled his appointment.”

Carrier previously had appealed for reinstatement of his license to a hearing officer with the state Bureau of Motor Vehicles, but was denied. A formal appeal before the Maine Supreme Judicial Court in December also was denied.

In the fatal accident, Carrier, then 19, drove a pickup truck at high speed through a stop sign on East Ridge Road in Skowhegan and slammed into a van that was heading east on U.S. Route 2.

Arlyce Jewell, 42, and her 10-year-old son, Alex, died in the crash. Royce Jewell Jr., Arlyce Jewell’s husband, was injured.

Elbert Knowles, 15, a passenger in the pickup, also died in the crash. Another passenger, Nicole Johnson, then 17, was injured seriously.

Pamela Hare of Laveen, Ariz., Elbert Knowles’ aunt, and other surviving family members objected to Carrier’s license reinstatement.

“This is great to hear,” Hare said when told of Carrier’s withdrawn request for a pardon. “I can only hope that now we can go on without having this brought up again. We are reminded daily of the loved ones we lost. Bryan should also be reminded of that loss.

“I also hope he took into consideration how the families feel every time he brings this up. It’s like a fresh wound all over again.”

Skowhegan attorney John Alsop, who represented Carrier in his appeal to the law court, declined to comment on the pardon request.

Efforts to reach Carrier have been unsuccessful.

Doug Harlow can be contacted at 612-2367 or at:

dharlow@centralmaine.com