Defendant acquitted of murder in Route 93 shooting

Middlesex Superior Court # 2004-0323. After a two week trial a Middlesex County jury acquitted the defendant of murder. The government theorized that the defendant deliberately shot and killed the victim, a female, while engaging in a road rage related incident. The defense contended that the shooting was precipitated by the victim who witnesses said appeared to be trying to run the defendant’s car off of the highway. The defense presented three expert witnesses to support its theory of the case. An accident reconstructionist concluded that the victim was the aggressor on the highway and that she was overtaking the defendant’s vehicle at the time of impact between the two vehicles. This theory was corroborated by eyewitnesses located by the defense. A firearms expert testified that the shot that was fired by the defendant was an impossible shot to make intentionally and that the impact of the collision likely caused the weapon to discharge. A toxicologist testified that the victim’s actions that evening were consistent with an abuse of crystal meth, a drug that witnesses identified as being used by the victim with frequency in the months leading up to the shooting. The jury returned a verdict of involuntary manslaughter.