By Julie Manganis
Staff writer
May 15, 2008 06:00 am
DANVERS — The 19-year-old driver charged with killing a 73-year-old woman in a head-on collision on Route 1 last year is behind bars, after showing up for court allegedly high on drugs, as well as missing a drug test last month.
Buck Bishop's lawyer yesterday argued that his client was simply taking prescription tranquilizers to help him cope with the trauma his family suffered in the 2006 Danversport explosion and should be released "in the interest of justice, in the interest of fairness," lawyer Michael Cioffi argued.
A judge denied the request.
Bishop, 19, is charged with vehicular homicide in the Nov. 16 crash that killed 73-year-old Joyce Oliver of Peabody. Bishop was on his way to a methadone appointment when, he told police, he "blacked out." Police say he crossed the center of the road near the Topsfield line and hit two oncoming cars. The impact killed Oliver and injured two others.
After his arraignment in March, Bishop was released on conditions that included regular reporting to a probation officer and random drug tests.
Then he missed a hearing in April and showed up a week later, on April 23, "basically falling asleep," prosecutor Jane Prince reminded Judge Robert Cornetta, who revoked his bail that day and sent him to Middleton Jail.
"The public safety is at risk," said the prosecutor, who also pointed out that Bishop, who lists addresses in Topsfield and Danvers, was basically missing for some period of time and had skipped a drug test.
"This is too big of a burden on the probation department," Prince said.
Cioffi pleaded with the judge, saying Bishop had problems "adjusting to nomad status" after the explosion and had been prescribed benzodiazepine by a family doctor.
"He's had 22 days (in custody) to see what he did wrong," Cioffi argued to the judge. "He's seen Middleton (Jail), and he does not like that which he has experienced."
Cornetta denied Cioffi's request, ordering that Bishop remain in custody for the full 60 days his bail was revoked.
The hearing, which took place in a small, little-used courtroom on the first floor, briefly turned contentious after a member of Bishop's family allegedly used an expletive to refer to a member of Oliver's family. The two families sat just inches apart in the cramped room.
Cornetta ordered that Bishop and his family have no contact with members of Oliver's family.
Cioffi said he intends to file a motion to dismiss the case based on a delay in giving Bishop a citation after the crash.
Prince said police have had a hard time keeping track of Bishop — in fact it took some effort to locate him to serve him with the summons to appear in court for his arraignment in the case in March.
A hearing on that motion was scheduled for June 11.
Bishop, who told police he'd used cocaine two days before the crash, was not charged with being under the influence of drugs at the time of the crash. The charge he is facing is a misdemeanor that carries a potential 21/2-year jail term.
It's the second time this week that a defendant has pointed to the Nov. 22, 2006, disaster as a defense in a criminal case. On Tuesday, a Peabody man who lived near the CAI/Arnel plant convinced a jury to find him not guilty of drunken-driving charges stemming from his arrest seven hours after the explosion.
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