BENNINGTON -- A judge cut short a line of questioning Thursday that suggested a bigfoot might have caused a fatal crash on Route 7 last summer.
Mark T. Zielinski, 34, of Mount Tabor, has been charged with grossly negligent driving with a death resulting. He crossed his van into the oncoming lane on Route 7 in Shaftsbury on June 25, 2003 and collided with a second van containing six people. The driver of the second van, Shaun Keenan, 23, of Shaftsbury, died as a result. Six others, including Zielinski, who was alone in his van, were hospitalized.
In a tense 45-minute hearing to discuss a motion to dismiss, defense attorney Matthew Harnett argued that prosecutors have no way of knowing that Zielinski wasn't trying to avoid some obstacle in his lane when his northbound van crossed into the southbound lane.
At one point, with investigating officer Sgt. Michael Marvin of the Vermont State Police on the stand, Harnett asked, "Isn't there a moose crossing at that location?"
Marvin answered indirectly. "Moose cross there," he said.
Harnett asked, "Haven't there been bigfoot sightings in that area, or allegations of sightings," but Judge David Suntag ended that line of questioning. The reference to bigfoot refers to reports that people have spotted a bigfoot, a bear or someone dressed in a costume near the location of the crash. The Banner reported on mysterious sightings in late September and early October, when several people said they saw a bigfoot or something resembling a bigfoot at the highest elevation on Route 7.
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Mark T. Zielinski, 34, of Mount Tabor, has been charged with grossly negligent driving with a death resulting. He crossed his van into the oncoming lane on Route 7 in Shaftsbury on June 25, 2003 and collided with a second van containing six people. The driver of the second van, Shaun Keenan, 23, of Shaftsbury, died as a result. Six others, including Zielinski, who was alone in his van, were hospitalized.
In a tense 45-minute hearing to discuss a motion to dismiss, defense attorney Matthew Harnett argued that prosecutors have no way of knowing that Zielinski wasn't trying to avoid some obstacle in his lane when his northbound van crossed into the southbound lane.
At one point, with investigating officer Sgt. Michael Marvin of the Vermont State Police on the stand, Harnett asked, "Isn't there a moose crossing at that location?"
Marvin answered indirectly. "Moose cross there," he said.
Harnett asked, "Haven't there been bigfoot sightings in that area, or allegations of sightings," but Judge David Suntag ended that line of questioning. The reference to bigfoot refers to reports that people have spotted a bigfoot, a bear or someone dressed in a costume near the location of the crash. The Banner reported on mysterious sightings in late September and early October, when several people said they saw a bigfoot or something resembling a bigfoot at the highest elevation on Route 7.
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