Steven Davies claimed police bullied him into talking about a snowmobile crash.
AUBURN – A Sabattus man charged with manslaughter in connection with a fatal snowmobile accident in December 2002 attempted to convince a judge that police bullied him to get a confession.
Steven Davies argued at a court hearing last week that investigators from the Maine Warden Service deliberately tried to frighten him and his wife by banging loudly on the door and shining flashlights into the house.
The 37-year-old also claimed that the officers kept him against his will and never advised him of his constitutional rights. As a result, Davies wanted his statements thrown out of court.
But Justice Ellen Gorman didn’t buy his argument.
In a ruling issued Wednesday, Gorman denied Davies’ request to suppress the statements that he gave to police in the early morning hours of Dec. 30 after the body of Robert Levesque was found battered and bloody on Sabattus Lake.
Gorman described police as being polite, conversational and, at times, friendly.
“Although Mr. Davies had every reason to be nervous while speaking to the investigators, his nervousness was due to his own actions, not the interrogation methods of the investigators,” she wrote.
According to police, Davies was riding his snowmobile on Sabattus Lake at about 70 mph on Dec. 29, 2002, when he struck 59-year-old Levesque. After the crash, police say, Davies drove away, leaving Levesque lying on the ice surrounded by broken snowmobile parts.
Levesque was walking on the ice with a flashlight when he was hit. The impact was so forceful that it knocked off his shoes, gloves and socks, police said.
Among the items scattered on the ice was a piece of the snowmobile’s windshield with the registration number still attached. It led police to Davies’ home on Phelan Street.
Police said Davies initially denied being involved in the accident. He told them his snowmobile was in his brother-in-law’s garage across the street and he offered to show it to them.
When the officers arrived at the garage, the snowmobile was nowhere to be found, and Davies asked to report it stolen.
It wasn’t until after an officer found the banged-up sled in the middle of a trail behind Davies’ home that he changed his story, police said.
According to court papers, he told the officers that he hit someone, then “freaked” and left the scene.
Davies’ claim that he made those statements because the officers screamed at him and threatened that he would never see his wife and children again didn’t sit well with Gorman.
“At the time of the interview, he had already hidden evidence, and left the scene of the accident,” the judge wrote. “Those are not the actions of a person who believes he must comply with all government requests.”
Gorman concluded in her ruling that investigators did not have to inform Davies’ of his constitutional rights to remain silent because he was not in their custody and he was free to terminate the interview at any time.
Davies faces charges of manslaughter, aggravated assault and reckless conduct in connection with the accident.
His trial is tentatively scheduled for May.
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