AUBURN – About 100 people from Androscoggin County will report to the courthouse Monday morning to be considered for jury duty in the second trial of a Lisbon mom accused of shaking her son to death.
Sarah Allen, 30, faces a charge of manslaughter in connection with the death of her 21-month-old adopted son, Nathaniel.
Her first trial last June ended without a verdict because the jury was unable to reach a unanimous decision. Jurors later reported that the final vote had been 11-1 to find Allen guilty of manslaughter.
Allen’s attorney, Verne Paradie, said he is optimistic that the end result will be different this time.
The state alleges that Sarah Allen shook her son with so much force that she caused him to suffer a severe brain injury. All the doctors who treated the boy testified at the first trial that the most likely cause of death was a violent shaking or jerking motion.
Once again, Paradie hopes to prove that the boy died as a result of a pre-existing, undetected disorder.
“We are fairly confident that after further review and consideration of the facts of the case that we can show that Nathaniel very likely suffered from a pre-existing metabolic disorder that contributed to or caused his brain injuries,” Paradie said.
He said he plans to show that the state’s medical experts had information that should have alerted them to the boy’s existing problems, but they ignored it.
Assistant Attorney General Lisa Marchese declined to comment on the upcoming trial, citing her office’s policy not to discuss open cases.
When a mistrial is declared as the result of a hung jury, the state has three options: hold another trial, drop the charge or offer a plea bargain.
In a previous interview, Marchese said the fact that only one juror believed that Allen should have been acquitted played a major role in the state’s decision to spend the time and money to retry her.
“It shows that our evidence was very strong,” she said.
The second trial was initially scheduled for October. It was delayed after Paradie asked for a continuance to allow one of his expert witnesses, a neuropathologist from Brown University, to test samples of the boy’s brain tissue with newly discovered techniques.
The trial is expected to last three weeks, slightly longer than the first one.
Jury selection will begin Monday morning, coincidentally on the second anniversary of Nathaniel Allen’s death.
Opening statements could be given Monday afternoon or Tuesday, depending on how long it takes to pick 12 jurors and two alternates.
Both Marchese and Paradie declined the option of requesting the second trial take place in a different county where potential jurors may be less likely to have seen or read media coverage of the case.
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