PORTLAND – A judge has ruled that some statements made by a man charged in a fatal boating collision on Long Lake last summer are not admissible at trial.

Justice Robert Crowley determined that Robert LaPointe, 39, of Bridgton and Medway, Mass., wasn’t given his Miranda rights during an interview with Warden Jason Luce on the evening of the Aug. 11 crash. The crash killed Terry Raye Trott, 55, of Naples, and Suzanne Groetzinger, 44, of Berwick.

LaPointe pleaded not guilty to two counts of manslaughter, four counts of aggravated operating under the influence and one count of reckless conduct with a dangerous weapon. LaPointe’s lawyers filed five motions to suppress evidence in the case, arguing that LaPointe’s constitutional rights were violated during his interaction with law enforcement officers.

Cumberland County District Attorney Stephanie Anderson said the decision will not be a setback for the prosecution.

“The statements that are suppressed are statements that we really don’t need,” Anderson said Wednesday. “We have everything we need and then some.”

Following the boat collision, Warden Luce interviewed LaPointe in a marked Maine Warden Service vehicle to determine whether his boat had struck anything else and whether he had been drinking that evening. Luce accompanied LaPointe to Bridgton Hospital for a blood test after the remains of Trott and Groetzinger’s boat were found on the lake.

LaPointe was not arrested, although the prosecution concedes that he was in custody when his blood was drawn.

In an 18-page ruling, Justice Crowley stated that LaPointe’s rights were not violated because Luce had reasonable suspicion of criminal conduct to interview LaPointe.

However, Crowley stated that under the circumstances of the interview, LaPointe could be considered to be in custody during part of the interview in Luce’s truck as well as a second interview conducted at the hospital. Miranda rights must be given prior to interrogations.

Crowley stated that Luce’s questioning in the truck shifted in tone when he began asking LaPointe about his alcohol consumption.

“At that time, a reasonable person in (LaPointe’s) position would have perceived that Warden Luce’s primary concern was no longer search and rescue, but what crime (LaPointe) committed,” Crowley wrote.

He ruled that it was proper for Luce to order a blood test, but the judge deferred a decision on whether the test results would be admissible at trial because LaPointe’s attorneys requested additional time to determine if Luce had probable cause to order the test.

A boater involved in a fatal accident is required to take a test to determine blood-alcohol level, and the results may be admitted at trial if the court believes there is probable cause independent of the test to believe that the boater was under the influence of alcohol or drugs.

Crowley disagreed with the argument by LaPointe’s lawyers that Luce was not authorized to order a test because he did not know at the time of the accident that fatalities had occurred.

“Clearly in cases where days pass before bodies are recovered, blood tests given only upon confirmation that a fatality has occurred are useless,” Crowley wrote.

Trott and Groetzinger were killed after their boat was struck by LaPointe’s twin-engine Sunsation Dominator speedboat, which investigators determined was traveling at 45 mph at the time of the crash.

LaPointe and his passenger, 19-year-old Nicole Randall of Bridgton, were thrown from the boat, which then went 130 feet onshore. Both LaPointe and Randall were uninjured in the collision.

According to Crowley’s order, LaPointe said he had consumed six to eight beers during the day, and law enforcement officers smelled alcohol on him after the crash. LaPointe is also accused of asking a nurse at the hospital to substitute her blood for his blood test. LaPointe’s blood showed an alcohol level of .11 percent. The legal limit for driving is .08 percent.