No progress reported after sides meet on Warren manslaughter case

July 28--ROCKLAND, Maine -- There was no progress reported Tuesday following a morning-long meeting between the attorneys and judge in a manslaughter case stemming from a 2014 car crash.

Assistant District Attorney Jeffrey Baroody said after the dispositional conference was completed at Knox County Unified Court that no progress was made. Defense attorney Eric "Rick" Morse said there was nothing new to report. The two men had met alternately and together for more than two hours with Justice William Stokes in the judge's chamber.

The topic was the manslaughter case against Samuel Simmons. No additional hearing dates have yet been scheduled.

Simmons, 19, was driving north on Route 1 in Warren on March 20, 2014, when his 1997 GMC Sierra pickup truck crossed the centerline near the intersection of Western Road and struck a southbound 2003 Subaru Forester driven by Alison Low of Warren, police reported.

Low, 38, died at the scene. Her 18-year-old son, Dustin Kimball of Warren, was seriously injured but recovered. Kimball's girlfriend, Olivia Blachet, spent more than five months at Maine Medical Center in Portland.

Simmons was indicted in February on a charge of manslaughter and two counts of driving to endanger.

Earlier this month, Blachet, now 19, received a $5 million judgment against Simmons. He did not have motor vehicle insurance, however, and it was not made clear how that judgment might be collected.

Low's family also has filed a negligence lawsuit against Simmons. That case is pending in court.

Last week, dueling expert reports were filed in court about whether Simmons was impaired at the time of the crash because of marijuana and amphetamine use.

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