News

Judge denies motion to toss homicide charge

By Julie Manganis
Staff writer
Published: June 24, 2008

DANVERS — After losing a bid to have a vehicular homicide charge thrown out because police never gave him a ticket, a Danvers man is considering whether to try to strike a plea bargain in the case.

Buck Bishop, 19, is charged in the death of 73-year-old Joyce Oliver of Peabody on Nov. 16. Bishop was also injured in the head-on crash, which occurred on Route 1 near the Topsfield town line. Bishop was on his way to a methadone clinic when he told police he blacked out. He struck two cars, injuring the occupants of one and killing Oliver in the other car.

Yesterday, defense lawyer Michael Cioffi argued that the case should be dismissed because police never gave Bishop the citation they wrote up after determining that he would be charged.

But prosecutor Jane Prince said it wasn't for lack of trying — police went to both addresses they had for Bishop, in Topsfield and Danvers, and tried mailing it to him, only to have it returned. The prosecutor also argued that the law does not require such service where a death has occurred.

Salem District Court Judge Robert Cornetta agreed.

"What more would you have them do?" the judge asked Cioffi, pointing to the efforts made by police to track down his client.

When Cioffi suggested that police could have left it at the last address they had for him, Cornetta was not convinced.

Bishop's family was displaced after the November 2006 Danversport explosion.

But Cornetta said that tragedy does not excuse Bishop from notifying the Registry of his whereabouts, so that they could have found him more easily.

After Cornetta denied the request, Cioffi asked the judge to consider releasing his client on bail. Bishop was originally released on personal surety after his arraignment in February, but was put back in custody in April after showing up for court apparently under the influence of drugs. Cornetta had ordered Cioffi jailed for 60 days, which ran out on Saturday.

Cornetta held off acting on the request after Cioffi said he may try to negotiate a plea with the district attorney's office. Bishop remains in custody at Middleton Jail pending the next hearing in the case on July 7.