AUBURN – The family of Robert Levesque had hoped that the criminal cases involving Levesque’s death would be over by the end of July.

They had hoped that by now the meetings with the state prosecutor, the visits to the courthouse and their focus on the judicial system would be behind them, and they could focus instead on mourning Levesque, on adjusting to life without him.

Due to a technicality, it may be months before that happens.

Two people were charged in connection with the December 2002 snowmobile accident that killed Levesque: Steven Davies and his brother-in-law, Robert Cyr.

Davies, the man who was driving the snowmobile that struck Levesque as he was walking on Sabattus Lake, is in jail. He was sentenced July 2 to 364 days behind bars and $2,500 in fines.

Cyr, 35, was charged at the same time as Davies with two counts of hindering apprehension or prosecution for allegedly telling Davies to hide his snowmobile and for not telling police that he knew who hit Levesque.

They are both felony charges, punishable by up to five years in prison.

Police say that Davies drove to Cyr’s house at 81 Phelan St. after hitting Levesque and asked Cyr to check the lake.

After finding Levesque lying on the ice surrounded by snowmobile parts, police say, Cyr put Levesque on his snowmobile and drove about a half-mile on rough terrain to his house to call 911.

According to police, Cyr took investigators to the scene but never mentioned that he knew the person who hit Levesque. Police say he also called Davies and told him to get rid of his snowmobile because investigators might be looking for it.

Cyr’s case was initially scheduled to go to trial in July.

Due to what Assistant District Attorney Dick Beauchesne described as a “defect” in the original charge, it was taken off the trial list and is being presented again to a grand jury this week.

The wording in the original indictment was missing a few necessary elements, Beauchesne said. In an effort to avoid the delay, Beauchesne offered Cyr the option of pleading guilty to a less serious charge.

Cyr had until Friday to accept the offer. As a result of his decision not to take the deal, the state was left with no choice but to restart the entire process of charging him and prosecuting his case.

“It’s incredibly unfortunate for the family,” Beauchesne said. “It delays any closure at all.”

Levesque’s brother-in-law, Ray Simon, said the ordeal has left his family with little trust in the judicial system.

“What value does the system have?” Simon said. “It is not serving the victims whatsoever.”

Levesque’s family blames both Cyr and Davies for Levesque’s death.

Levesque died on the way to the hospital. His family believes he would have stood a better chance of surviving the accident if Cyr hadn’t driven him over a half-mile of rough terrain.

“Anybody knows you don’t move a person in that state,” Levesque’s son, Marc, said at the sentencing hearing for Steven Davies.

They also blame Cyr for delaying the investigation.

Investigators didn’t catch up with Davies until about six hours after the accident. They went to his house on the lake after finding a piece of broken windshield showing a registration number for a snowmobile in his name.

By that time, it was too late for investigators to determine whether Davies was intoxicated at the time of the accident.

Davies was initially charged with manslaughter, aggravated assault and reckless conduct in connection with the accident.

Despite opposition from Levesque’s family, the state offered Davies a deal to plead guilty to a misdemeanor charge of falsifying physical evidence for hiding his snowmobile after the accident and to a civil offense for failing to report a snowmobile accident.