Expert witness for defense says man who died in 2016 crash was the driver

Defense attorney David Betancourt points to an image of the Spaulding as defense witness William Richard Closs Jr. looks on. Also from left, County Attorney Thomas Velardi and Strafford County Superior Court Judge Mark E Howard. (Rochester Voice photo)

DOVER - An accident reconstruction specialist testified on Thursday that a Rochester man who died in a 2016 rollover on the Spaulding was driving the vehicle when it crashed, not his neighbor and best friend who prosecutors say was drunk, speeding and behind the wheel.

Lawrence Douglas, of 32 Lafayette St., is charged with alternative counts of negligent homicide and manslaughter as well as aggravated driving while intoxicated. His five-day trial in the death of James Gosselin, 54, began on Monday in Strafford County Superior Court.

William Richard Closs Jr., an accident reconstruction expert who was testifying for the defense, also said the Subaru Forester both men were in was traveling about 60 mph, not the 90 mph the state has estimated, when it crashed into a concrete barrier in the middle of the Spaulding the night of April 15, 2016.

Police said the car lost control while traveling south near Exit 15, struck a barrier in the center of the roadway, then veered back to the right before leaving the roadway and rolling over several times.

Closs, however, testified that in his opinion - due to the shifting of paint, painting supplies and an assortment of tools in the back - the Subaru hit the center barrier while on a true track, then flipped onto the driver's side and skidded across the road till it hit the shoulder on the west side of the highway flipping over several times.

Closs also said that Gosselin's injuries to the left side of his head show that he was driving as the car made a quarter roll onto the left side after it hit the barrier.

In his cross-examination, Strafford County Attorney Thomas Velardi questioned Bloss' assertion that the weight of paint and equipment may have played a part.

"Do you know how many paint cans, how big they were?" he asked, to which Bloss simply referenced a large debris field.

Velardi also brought up that a sudden track to the left could have been the result of hitting rumble strips on the right side of the highway and pointed out mistakes Closs had made when he testified for the defense in connection with a 2012 case.

The trial is expected to wrap up on Monday with closing arguments.