SOUTH PARIS — A Greenwood man pleaded not guilty Friday to manslaughter charges stemming from a 2019 fatal crash in Stoneham that killed his wife.
Terrence G. Gordon, 32, appeared by videoconference in Oxford County Superior Court to answer the felony charge, which is punishable by up to 30 years in prison.
An Oxford County grand jury indicted Gordon on the charge in December.
Justice Thomas McKeon continued Gordon’s release on his personal recognizance, but added the condition that he not possess illegal drugs and can be searched for them when he is suspected of having them.
Gordon may not use marijuana except as permitted by prescription and he is not allowed to operate a motor vehicle under the influence of marijuana, McKeon said.
Assistant District Attorney Richard Beauchesne told the judge that there was evidence that, at the time of the crash, Gordon had marijuana in his system in addition to other drugs, both prescribed and not prescribed. Many marijuana roaches had been found in the vehicle he’d been driving, Beauchesne said.
Defense Attorney Jeffrey Wilson said Gordon had a medical marijuana card and that he hadn’t been charged with operating under the influence.
Wilson said the manslaughter charge had been based solely on excessive speed.
“This was never only about speed,” Beauchesne said.
“No manslaughter count includes particular forms of negligence,” he said. “We have to prove criminal negligence. And we can do that in any manner that we choose. And in this case, here, it includes speed. It includes drugs.”
In addition to manslaughter, Gordon was indicted on a felony charge of driving to endanger, which carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison.
He is charged with two misdemeanor charges of endangering the welfare of a child, because his two children were in the vehicle at the time of the crash, according to prosecutors.
Gordon’s not guilty plea Friday included those charges.
Authorities said Gordon was driving a pickup truck on Oct. 4. 2019, when it slammed into a tree along Main Street in Stoneham.
Gordon’s 31-year-old wife, Ashley, was killed in the crash. The couple lived in Bethel at that time.
Oxford County Sheriff’s deputies said the couple’s two children, who were in the back seat, were taken to a hospital with injuries not considered life-threatening.
Gordon was not injured in the crash.
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