NEWPORT — A 21-year-old Upper Valley woman whose reckless driving caused the roadway death of a Claremont paramedic will avoid serving any jail time if she stays out of trouble.
It’s a sentencing decision the judge himself acknowledged that the victim’s family “may not be in agreement (with) here.”
Hailey Martineau, most recently of Charlestown, received fully suspended sentences on Thursday after pleading guilty to misdemeanor and felony charges in connection with the death of Ian Pierce, a 29-year-old EMT with Golden Cross Ambulance in Claremont. Pierce died after her speeding vehicle struck his motorcycle on Route 12 two years ago.
Martineau, now the mother of an 8-month-old daughter, could have been sentenced to up to seven years in state prison on a felony conviction of second-degree assault and 12 months in county jail on the misdemeanor conviction of vehicular assault.
In delivering his decision, Judge James Kennedy said that when he first read the case materials “I was immediately mortified with the facts,” calling them “disturbing.”
But he noted that both the state and defense agree “there was no drug use or alcohol use” contributing to Martineau’s actions, “something that would (give) the court more comfort in finding a harsh punishment for this type of activity.”
“But this is a case involving a teenager that made a very, very unfortunate decision, one that ended the life of the victim … and will follow her for the rest of her life” and “it will impact her throughout everything she does going forward,” the judge said.
And if she “were to cross lines or act out of conduct … this sentence will come back to her. I hope that she knows that,” Judge Kennedy said.
He recognized the victim’s family might be unhappy that Martineau will not be spending any time behind bars if she stays out of trouble.
“I know the family may not be in agreement here, but it’s what I believe is the appropriate outcome” given the steps at rehabilitation, “which she’s already taken, responsibility in taking classes” and “participating in child care and assisting young people with PTSD.”
“If this case went to trial, I don’t know what the outcome would’ve been. There’s facts on both sides and it would’ve been up to 12 people,” the judge said. “But you decided to avoid that and come here and accept responsibility.”
Victim’s family was already unsatisfied
Kennedy’s decision followed a 90-minute hearing in Sullivan County Superior Court and came despite the victim’s parents rebuking the “capped plea” deal reached between state prosecutors and Martineau’s defense attorney as already too lenient.
That agreement would have called for her to be incarcerated for 12 months in county jail.
“We do not agree with the plea deal struck between the prosecutor and the defendant,” said Ian Pierce’s mother, Barbara Pierce, as her husband and Ian’s father, Bill Pierce, stood by her side at the courtroom lectern.
Pierce spoke earlier in the hearing, before Kennedy issued his sentence.
“How is it conceivable that someone is originally charged with three felony counts and ends up with a deal where she only faces time for a misdemeanor?” said Barbara Pierce, adding Martineau’s punishment amounts to a “slap on the wrist.”
Thursday’s sentencing hearing also included a graphic recounting of the Sept. 19, 2023, nighttime incident near the intersection of Route 12 and Wheeler Rand Road by Sullivan County Assistant Attorney James Eager.
The Pierces and 10 supporters sat in the courtroom benches a few feet behind him as Eager spoke.
Martineau, who was 19 at the time, was not wearing a seat belt while driving her father’s 2010 Toyota Corolla in excess of 78 miles-per-hour in a 55 mile-per-hour speed zone, music blaring, around 10:30 p.m. on a dry roadway, the state prosecutor recounted. Her boyfriend sat in the front seat and a 17-year-old minor was in the back seat.
As she approached Pierce’s southbound motorcycle from behind, Pierce signaled he was about to turn left onto Wheeler Rand Road, but Martineau “moves into Ian’s left lane with the intention of overtaking his motorcycle,” Eager told the court.
“The right front side of Martineau’s vehicle strikes the front left side of Ian’s bike,” Eager continued.
The force of the impact launched Pierce into the air. He hit Martineau’s windshield before being thrown into the opposite lane, where he was struck by an oncoming 18-wheeler tractor trailer.
Martineau — whose car had run into a roadside ditch — told a responding police officer at the scene that she had been driving at “like, 55, 60” at the time of the incident, according to audio from the police officer’s body cam that was played in court.
But when the police officer said that another driver on the road who was traveling at 60 miles-per-hour reported that Martineau had passed her on the left a few minutes before Martineau’s vehicle had struck Pierce’s motorcycle, Martineau replied, “yeah, like 70 just to pass,” according to the audio recording played in court.
A subsequent forensic analysis of the event data recorder in Martineau’s car showed that the car had been traveling at 78.3 miles-per-hour, “4.3 seconds before the reportable event,” Eager told the court. He noted that 78.3 mph is the upper limit of the recorder’s capability and that the vehicle’s traveling speed actually may have been faster.
In the victim impact statement read in court, Barbara Pierce described the family’s anguish over being “denied the opportunity to see Ian fulfill his dreams. Ian wanted nothing more than to get married and have a family of his own and now none of that will come to fruition.”
She added that their son’s death robbed Ian’s younger brother of his wish to have his big brother be the best man at his wedding this past summer.
“Perhaps time in prison will give Ms. Martineau time to reflect, grow and know she has destroyed so many lives forever,” Barbara Pierce said.
Then, Barbara Pierce addressed Martineau by her first name and expressed words that few would expect from a grieving parent: “As hard as it is to forgive you, Hailey, we know it is what Ian would want and what is right in the eyes of the Lord. So it is with broken hearts that we want to tell you, we forgive you.”
“However, there is a difference between compassion and justice,” Barbara Pierce took care to add. “We can forgive you and still believe you need to have consequences for what you have done.”
After the hearing, Sullivan County Attorney Christine Hilliard said the state accepted the judge’s decision, even if it was not the outcome the prosecutors had sought.
“We respect the judge’s opinion and discretion,” Hilliard told the Valley News. “That’s his absolute role. Obviously, we were hoping for that 12-month sentence. The victim’s impact statements said they would’ve preferred her to be in the state prison.
“But at the end of the day, we gave all the facts and circumstances to the judge and he made the decision he felt was appropriate. And that’s all we can ask of him,” Hilliard added.
Defense argues driver has made changes
In arguing for leniency in sentencing, Martineau’s defense attorney, Joseph Prieto, of Manchester, pointed out that his client had no prior criminal offenses, in particular alcohol or drugs, which are aggravating factors when pleading guilty to vehicular offenses.
He said that she is working in a child care center and taking classes in early childhood education. She also is receiving mental health counseling.
Martineau had “wanted to express her remorse and sorrow immediately, but through the advice of counsel” was advised against it while her criminal case was pending, Prieto said.
“That’s my fault,” he acknowledged.
Near the end of the hearing, Martineau herself stood up. Reading from her phone, she said, “I want to express my deepest sympathy to Ian’s family and friends” and that “the events of that day will forever replay in my mind.”
“I wish more than anything that I could change the outcome of that day,” Martineau said, adding that she has sought “professional help to better myself and my driving skills.”
She also described how she has been working with children who’ve experienced trauma and “developed new skills to help” them with post-traumatic stress disorder.
Martineau said she is sharing “my story and my faults with the older children in the hope that they can learn from my mistakes and to teach them to also be better drivers and people in the community.
“I promise that I will always take extra time and extra caution while in a vehicle. I am truly remorseful for all the pain and suffering the events of that day have caused,” she said.
