BANGOR – A Bangor man who was convicted of driving drunk when he killed a Lewiston teenager in 1996 will go to trial in July on new charges of operating under the influence and operating after revocation.

Daniel Asselin, 37, of Bangor, on Wednesday went before Justice Andrew Mead in Penobscot County Superior Court to announce he is seeking a new lawyer. Court-appointed defense attorney Bradford MacDonald filed a motion Tuesday to withdraw from the case.

Asselin was pulled over in May 2004 after he allegedly squealed his tires on Hammond Street and drifted over the centerline. Police said Asselin smelled of alcohol and failed field sobriety tests.

A breath test administered later showed that his blood-alcohol content was 0.29 percent, nearly four times the legal limit.

Asselin pleaded guilty to the charges in April, but later withdrew his pleas when a judge rejected the state’s sentencing recommendation, saying it was too lenient.

In 1996, Asselin was driving with a blood-alcohol content of 0.21 percent when he struck and fatally injured Mark Blanchette, 18, of Lewiston, on Webster Street in Lewiston. Blanchette died of his injuries the next day.

Asselin was later charged with manslaughter in that case, but he pleaded guilty to a lesser charge of aggravated drunken driving and served four years in prison.

He had been forbidden to drive for more than nine years before the 1996 accident because of numerous previous convictions, including driving while intoxicated, driving without a license, speeding and failure to appear in court.

Asselin faces a six-year sentence, one year on the OUI charge and five years for operating after revocation.


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