AUBURN – Jeremy and Sarah Allen are both accused of abusing their 22-month-old adopted son in the days before his death.

Even though the charges that the husband and wife face are vastly different and stem from separate incidents, the state wants to try the Lisbon couple before the same jury.

The lawyers for the Allens insist that isn’t fair.

Lawyers Verne Paradie and George Hess will be in court Friday afternoon to make their arguments for holding two separate trials.

“The state is unable to show that the two alleged incidents are related in any manner other than that they involved the same alleged victim,” Paradie, who represents Sarah Allen, argued in his motion.

“The state’s attempt to join these charges is nothing more than an attempt to prejudice the jury against both Mr. Allen and Mrs. Allen.”

Jeremy Allen has been charged with assault, a crime punishable by up to five years in prison.

Police say the 29-year-old Navy journalist hit his son, Nathaniel, with a spatula two days before his death. The father allegedly left bruises on the toddler’s upper thigh and buttocks, but he has never been blamed for his son’s death.

That accusation rests solely with Sarah Allen.

The mother has been charged with manslaughter for allegedly shaking Nathaniel with so much force that it rattled his brain and killed him a day later.

Police say the shaking occurred on Feb. 14, after Jeremy Allen had left for a business trip in New Hampshire. The boy died the next day.

Paradie and Hess, who represents Jeremy Allen, argue in their motion that holding one trial for two people should only be permitted when the defendants are accused of committing a crime simultaneously or in the presence of the other defendant, or if the charges are exactly the same for both people and the alleged offenses occurred on the same day.

That is not the case with the Allens, their lawyers say.

Statement’s effect

Among their concerns is that state prosecutors would manipulate a statement that Jeremy Allen allegedly made about his wife.

According to court papers, Jeremy Allen told investigators that he saw Sarah Allen “manhandle” their son in the past, but never to the point where he was concerned.

In a joint trial, the lawyers argue, the state could present the statement as evidence against Sarah Allen, but Paradie would have no chance to cross-examine Jeremy Allen if he chose not to testify on his own behalf, an option given to all criminal defendants at their trials.

If separate trials were held, Jeremy Allen could be forced by subpoena to take the stand at his wife’s trial.

A joint trial could also pit the husband and wife against each other, the lawyers argue.

“A possible defense for Mr. Allen is to allege that any injuries attributed to his alleged actions were the result of actions of Mrs. Allen,” Paradie states.

Other motions

In addition to their request for separate trials, both lawyers have filed other motions that they will present to a judge Friday.

Paradie plans to ask the court to put pressure on state prosecutors to share certain evidence with him, including handwritten police notes and microscopic slides taken during an autopsy on Nathaniel’s brain.

Hess will ask for a change in a bail condition that bars Jeremy Allen from having contact with children under 10. The current condition exempts only family members, but Jeremy Allen also wants permission to have contact with children in the context of his job as a public affairs officer for the Navy.

The added exemption would allow Jeremy Allen to continue interviewing military families at places where there are children, such as churches, picnics, parades and holiday celebrations on the military base.

Background

Jeremy and Saran Allen adopted their son from Guatemala in April 2002. The adoption was arranged through a private, out-of-state agency.

On Feb. 14, Sarah Allen called police to report that the boy had fallen and was gasping for air.

Nathaniel was rushed to Mid Coast Hospital in Brunswick, then to Maine Medical Center in Portland, where doctors determined that he was brain-dead and would never live without life support.

The Allens decided to disconnect the boy from life-supporting machines on Feb. 15 and to donate his organs.

Two weeks after Nathaniel died, Sarah Allen was arrested at their home on Lincoln Street. Jeremy Allen was charged with assault after state prosecutors presented his case to an Androscoggin County grand jury.

According to court papers, an autopsy performed on the boy revealed three signs of shaken-baby syndrome: bleeding around the retina, bleeding around the brain and swelling of the brain.

lchmelecki@sunjournal.com

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