AUBURN — Three defendants charged in a fatal haunted hayride in Mechanic Falls in October are expected to appear in court at the end of July to enter pleas.
Indicted last week by an Androscoggin County grand jury and charged criminally were:
* David Brown, 55, of Paris, reckless conduct;
* Phillip Theberge, 38, of Norway, reckless conduct; and
* Harvest Hill Farms, Mechanic Falls, manslaughter, aggravated assault, driving to endanger and reckless conduct.
Peter Bolduc Jr. of Poland owns Harvest Hill Farms on Route 26. Prosecutors did not seek an indictment against Bolduc during grand jury proceedings.
Michael Whipple, Bolduc’s attorney regarding criminal matters, said he didn’t know which attorney would be representing Harvest Hill Farms against the criminal charges. Because a company can’t be jailed, if convicted, it would likely face fines. Manslaughter is a Class A crime punishable by up to a $100,000 fine.
Whipple said Bolduc had submitted to a lie detector test administered by a Maine State Police polygraph examiner and he also testified before the grand jury.
Brown was the driver of the Jeep that pulled a flatbed with passengers at the farm; Theberge was a mechanic at the farm.
Reckless conduct is a Class D misdemeanor, punishable by up to 364 days in jail.
The three cases are expected to be specially assigned to a single judge in Androscoggin County Superior Court.
The grand jury met over three consecutive months to consider criminal charges in an October 2014 haunted hayride accident at Harvest Hill Farms that killed 17-year-old Cassidy Charette of Oakland and injured 20 others, including Brown.
The ride took place at a Halloween attraction called the Gauntlet. Investigators said it appeared a mechanical failure led to the rollover in which Charette was killed. Seriously hurt was Charette’s boyfriend, 16-year-old Connor Garland of Belgrade.
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