White River Junction
Mason Morissette, of Woodstock, Maine, received a suspended two- to 12-month sentence and was placed on probation for two years.
Prosecutors dismissed the more serious felony charge he faced in connection with the August 2015 crash.
Windsor County State’s Attorney David Cahill said the state’s analysis of the case found that both Morissette and the victim, 54-year-old David Stefanik, of Shalimar, Fla., were “at fault.”
“This was a tragedy that could have been avoided had either Mr. Morissette or Mr. Stefanik simply paid attention to their surroundings,” Cahill said.
According to an affidavit, police alleged Morissette was texting while driving within about 15 minutes of side-swiping a tractor-trailer truck and killing Stefanik, who was squatting next to the truck in the northbound travel lane of the interstate.
The state, however, couldn’t prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Morissette was the person in the truck who was texting. His girlfriend was in the truck’s berth at the time, and state police couldn’t rule her out as the individual who sent the texts, Cahill said.
Morissette told police he wasn’t on his cellphone or texting; his girlfriend told police she was asleep at the time of the crash, the affidavit said.
In addition, Stefanik had a blood alcohol content of 0.12, six times the legal .02 limit for commercial drivers and well above the .08 limit for any motorist. That could have impacted his judgment when he decided to crouch in the travel lane to check on a flat tire, Cahill said.
“Had he not been under the influence of alcohol, he may not have made such a dangerous decision,” Cahill said.
Stefanik, who had placed caution triangles out, also could have pulled his truck all the way onto the shoulder, instead of leaving part of the trailer protruding about a foot into the travel lane, Cahill said.
On the other hand, Morissette had more than 1,000 feet of visibility to react to Stefanik’s disabled truck and also could have moved over within the same lane to avoid hitting him, Cahill said.
Morissette told police he tried to move over but was crowded by other vehicles, the affidavit said.
Reached by phone on Monday, Morissette’s attorney, Robert Kaplan, of Burlington, called the accident “very tragic.”
“Mr. Morissette is glad to have this behind him,” Kaplan said of the resolution, before declining further comment.
In addition to the criminal charges, police alleged Morissette kept a falsified travel log, which truckers who travel long distances are required to maintain. That would be a federal motor carrier violation and was likely prosecuted in traffic court, Cahill said.
Morissette didn’t have a prior criminal record.
Jordan Cuddemi can be reached at jcuddemi@vnews.com or 603-727-3248.