Beverly officer to get a new trial in fatal crash
By Globe Staff
A Beverly police officer will get a new trial on charges that he slammed his cruiser into a parked car last year, killing a 61-year-old woman.
Stuart Merry, 41, who was convicted in March of motor vehicle homicide by negligent operation in the crash that killed Bonney Burns, asked for a new trial after prosecutors uncovered additional evidence in the case. A Peabody District Court judge today granted Merry’s request.
“The judge ruled that a jury had the right to see that evidence ... and we’re fully prepared to retry the case,” said Jake Wark, a spokesman for the Suffolk district attorney’s office.
Wark said prosecutors had become aware of an opinion held by a member of the State Police crash analysis team on the origin of a crack in Merry's windshield. They hadn't known of the officer's opinion before. Wark didn't immediately disclose any further details.
The crash happened shortly after 9 a.m. on Jan. 20, 2007 on Cabot Street in Beverly.
Merry's cruiser accelerated as he drove south, crossing a set of yellow street lines and heading into the northbound lane. It then struck Burns's parked 1988 Toyota Camry.
Prosecutors have said that Merry was driving about 55 miles per hour in a 30 mile-per-hour zone and there was no evidence that he tried to avoid hitting Burns. Suffolk prosecutors tried the case, instead of those from Essex County where Beverly is located, to avoid the appearance of a conflict of interest.
Merry was sentenced to three years of probation and ordered to pay a $1,000 fine.
Merry's lawyer, Neil Rossman of Boston, argued that Merry had suffered a seizure at the time of the crash. Rossman didn't immediately return a message seeking a comment
