Ed Harrow
08-20-2008, 10:15 PM
Boat driver denies hiding assets
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By Aaron Wasserman/Daily News staff
The MetroWest Daily News
Posted Aug 20, 2008 @ 12:40 AM
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Robert LaPointe, the Medway man charged with manslaughter in a fatal boat accident in Maine last year, sold property to his father last November in part to pay for legal fees, one of his lawyers said yesterday.
The sale, said attorney Seth S. Holbrook of Boston, was not done to protect the property from a lawsuit, as the families of the boat crash's two victims contend. Both families have filed lawsuits against LaPointe since the incident.
"Our position was there was no attempt to hide assets and the documentation will show that," Holbrook said. He added that "when you look into the whole thing, it's not suspicious at all."
In recent court filings, LaPointe's wife, Heather, said the family paid a $275,000 retainer for a criminal lawyer and bail, and is in debt, reported the Portland Press-Herald this week.
LaPointe's criminal lawyer, J. Albert Johnson of Boston, who has defended high-profile clients such as Patricia Hearst and appears as a legal expert on television news shows, said yesterday he does not comment on what he bills.
He said LaPointe will go to trial Sept. 8 in Cumberland County, Maine, and will "be vindicated of any criminal conduct in this tragic accident."
LaPointe was indicted last October on two counts of manslaughter, four counts of aggravated operating under the influence, and one count of reckless conduct with a dangerous weapon.
Prosecutors say he was at the controls of a 32-foot powerboat last August when it collided with a smaller boat on Long Lake in Harrison, Maine, and Naples, Maine.
The smaller boat's driver, Terry Raye Trott, 55, and his girlfriend, Suzanne Groetzinger, 44, who was also onboard, were killed in the crash. Their families filed separate lawsuits against LaPointe earlier this year.
Last November, LaPointe and his wife transferred property they own in Bridgton, Maine, to his father, George LaPointe Jr. of Ashland, according to Cumberland County property records. The Press-Herald reported the sale price was $125,000.
The Groetzinger family's attorney, Benjamin Gideon of Portland, Maine, told the Daily News in May: "We were concerned that Mr. LaPointe ... appeared to be under-insured, and appeared to be conveying assets in a way that might frustrate my clients' and the other family's ability to recover in this case."
Neither Gideon nor the Trott family's lawyer, C. Alan Beagle of Portland, could be reached for comment yesterday.
Aaron Wasserman may be reached at 508-634-7546 or awasserm@cnc.com.
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Copyright © 2008 GateHouse Media, Inc. Some Rights Reserved.
Original content available for non-commercial use under a Creative Commons license, except where noted.
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By Aaron Wasserman/Daily News staff
The MetroWest Daily News
Posted Aug 20, 2008 @ 12:40 AM
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Robert LaPointe, the Medway man charged with manslaughter in a fatal boat accident in Maine last year, sold property to his father last November in part to pay for legal fees, one of his lawyers said yesterday.
The sale, said attorney Seth S. Holbrook of Boston, was not done to protect the property from a lawsuit, as the families of the boat crash's two victims contend. Both families have filed lawsuits against LaPointe since the incident.
"Our position was there was no attempt to hide assets and the documentation will show that," Holbrook said. He added that "when you look into the whole thing, it's not suspicious at all."
In recent court filings, LaPointe's wife, Heather, said the family paid a $275,000 retainer for a criminal lawyer and bail, and is in debt, reported the Portland Press-Herald this week.
LaPointe's criminal lawyer, J. Albert Johnson of Boston, who has defended high-profile clients such as Patricia Hearst and appears as a legal expert on television news shows, said yesterday he does not comment on what he bills.
He said LaPointe will go to trial Sept. 8 in Cumberland County, Maine, and will "be vindicated of any criminal conduct in this tragic accident."
LaPointe was indicted last October on two counts of manslaughter, four counts of aggravated operating under the influence, and one count of reckless conduct with a dangerous weapon.
Prosecutors say he was at the controls of a 32-foot powerboat last August when it collided with a smaller boat on Long Lake in Harrison, Maine, and Naples, Maine.
The smaller boat's driver, Terry Raye Trott, 55, and his girlfriend, Suzanne Groetzinger, 44, who was also onboard, were killed in the crash. Their families filed separate lawsuits against LaPointe earlier this year.
Last November, LaPointe and his wife transferred property they own in Bridgton, Maine, to his father, George LaPointe Jr. of Ashland, according to Cumberland County property records. The Press-Herald reported the sale price was $125,000.
The Groetzinger family's attorney, Benjamin Gideon of Portland, Maine, told the Daily News in May: "We were concerned that Mr. LaPointe ... appeared to be under-insured, and appeared to be conveying assets in a way that might frustrate my clients' and the other family's ability to recover in this case."
Neither Gideon nor the Trott family's lawyer, C. Alan Beagle of Portland, could be reached for comment yesterday.
Aaron Wasserman may be reached at 508-634-7546 or awasserm@cnc.com.
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Copyright © 2008 GateHouse Media, Inc. Some Rights Reserved.
Original content available for non-commercial use under a Creative Commons license, except where noted.