Forcier trial moves forward; high bail stays intact

Chris Forcier

ROCHESTER - A Milton man arrested for felony reckless conduct and assault had his case bound over to Superior Court on Wednesday despite a spirited defense that portrayed his victim, also from Milton, as the likely assailant in the case.

Christopher Forcier, 31, arrested earlier this month in an assault on 35-year-old Brandon Henner, will now face possible indictment by a grand jury on two felonies that could land him in state prison for up 15 years.

Milton Police Officer Melissa Curtin testified on the state’s behalf during the probable cause hearing, saying that when she arrived at the corner of Townhouse and Vachon roads on Jan. 11, witnesses and Henner told her that Forcier had passed by in his truck, seen Henner and yelled, “I’m going to kill you” and then proceeded to back his truck up trying to crash into him.

Brandon Henner points out where he said the knife got him last week.

Curtin said when Henner tried to avoid the truck he fell into the truck bed. Then when Forcier crashed his green pickup truck into a snowbank, Henner fell through the rear window, breaking it, whereupon Forcier attempted to stab him, Curtin testified.

Curtin said Henner had a small wound on his left abdomen and a puncture hole in his jacket.

She said the knife Henner claimed Forcier used to stab him was never located.

In cross-examination, public defender Cynthia Robinson asked Curtin how tall she thought Henner was, to which she replied maybe 6-foot or 6-foot-2. Then Robinson said she was about 6-foot, placed her hand at her own mid-chest level and asked Curtin if that was about as high as the pickup bedwall might be on Forcier’s truck. Curtin acknowledged yes.

Theorizing that it seemed implausible that Henner, given his height, would have been flipped into the truck on impact, Robinson alluded to a second scenario rather than the one painted by Henner and other witnesses.

In that scenario, she said, Henner jumps into the truck and breaks the rear window trying to get to Forcier.

“Why do you think he (Forcier) crashed?” Robinson asked, later asking Curtin if she were aware that the two had a recent history of feuding and that Henner’s old girlfriend was now with Forcier.

“Yes, I’m aware,” Curtin said.

Henner, who has assault charges pending for an earlier assault on Forcier, was arrested at the scene of the Townhouse Road incident for violating bail conditions for being in close proximity to the defendant.

Henner, of Ripley Lane, was charged in an assault on Forcier on Jan. 1 at Forcier's home on Christopher Lane in Milton.

Forcier and Henner were also reported to have skirmished on Champion Street in Lebanon on Jan. 2.

Forcier’s $10,000 cash bail was continued in light of a lengthy criminal record as indicated by Prosecutor Tim Sullivan, including a 2011 conviction of simple assault, a 2000 theft by unauthorized taking, plus a felony possession with intent to distribute arrest on Jan. 1. Milton Police Chief Richard Krauss said Milton Police developed evidence for a search warrant of Forcier’s home after breaking up the fracas in which Henner was arrested earlier on New Year’s Day.