PARIS — An attorney for a West Paris teen charged with manslaughter in the deaths of two of her friends after a crash Jan. 7, is seeking to suppress statements she made to police in the hospital hours later.

Attorney James Howaniec argues in a motion to suppress that testimony made by Kristina Lowe, 19, of West Paris, is inadmissible.

Lowe is charged with manslaughter in the deaths of Rebecca Mason, 16, of West Paris and Logan Dam, 19, of Norway.  She also faces two charges of operating under the influence, causing death, and one count of aggravated leaving the scene of an accident. In June, she pleaded not guilty to the charges.

Police say Lowe was driving 75 mph, had been drinking and smoking marijuana, and was texting on her cellphone when she crashed her car on Route 219 in West Paris.

During an interview the morning of Jan. 7, Lowe told Maine State Trooper Lauren Edstrom that she had been drinking and was texting when she crashed. Howaniec argues that icy conditions caused the crash. He said Lowe was in shock during the interview and had been administered painkillers for serious injuries she sustained in the crash.

On Monday and Tuesday, Oct. 29 and 30, Howaniec will argue to suppress the testimony in a two-day hearing in Oxford County Superior Court.

According to the motion, Lowe testified to a Maine State Police Trooper in the Critical Care Unit of Maine Medical Center in Portland less than six hours after the crash. Lowe suffered broken vertebrae, a head wound, a knee laceration and abdominal injuries, Howaniec wrote, and had been administered morphine.

Howaniec wrote that Lowe only learned of the deaths of her two friends during that interview, and that she wasn’t read her rights before talking to the officer. In addition, she hadn’t slept or eaten since the crash. He argues that her statements were involuntary, not meeting Maine’s requirement that a voluntary confession comes from “the free choice of a rational mind.”

Several doctors and nurses have been subpoenaed for next week’s hearings. An expert witness has submitted testimony that the painkillers Lowe was prescribed can influence memory.

He characterized Lowe’s account of events made after the crash as “dramatically at odds with the more reliable forensic evidence obtained by the police.”

He argued that forensic evidence on her phone and through her carrier, U.S. Cellular, doesn’t show any outgoing text messages from the time of the accident, although she did receive one at around that time. However, phone evidence doesn’t indicate whether she read it.

Howaniec also said Lowe’s blood alcohol level was 0.04 when she was tested, which is under the legal level for those of drinking age but not for Lowe, who was 18 at the time of the crash.

The crash has inspired efforts against texting and driving in recent months, as awareness groups have been formed and Oxford Hills Comprehensive High School dedicated a day to drunk and distracted driving awareness.

According to police, Lowe and her friends were returning to an underage drinking party in West Paris when the crash occurred. Another passenger, Jacob Skaff of Paris, was also injured.

In January, a woman who was at the party told the Sun Journal that Lowe had tried to drive earlier in the night but hit a tree in the driveway, and that party attendees took her keys away but Lowe took them back.

If convicted, Lowe faces a maximum of 95 years in prison and fines of more than $100,000.

treaves@sunjournal.com

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