Trial begins for man accused of killing woman in crash | Crime

During opening arguments in Carroll County Superior Court, attorney Wade Harwood told the jury of seven women and seven men that Nason, 30, of Ossipee, did bear responsibility for the crash that killed Janet Baumann, 61, and injured Gary Baumann, 69, but not as a crime as the state alleges.

According to a report from New Hampshire State Police, Nason was driving a 2004 Dodge pickup truck northbound on Route 16 in Ossipee when he crossed the center line and struck the southbound 1999 Honda Accord driven by Janet Baumann.

The impact caused Nason’s vehicle to roll over in the southbound lane, in the course of which it was side-swiped by a southbound 1997 Ford Ranger pickup operated by an Alton woman, who was unhurt.

Janet Baumann died at the scene while her husband was airlifted to a hospital in Maine for treatment of life-threatening injuries, including several broken bones.

Steven Briden, who is the Deputy Carroll County Attorney, said were it not for the fact that Nason was impaired by fentanyl, the events of Sept. 13, 2016, would not have happened and Nason would not now be before Judge Amy Ignatius and a jury of his peers to answer on six charges.

Recently retired from careers in New York state, the Baumanns “just wanted to get home,” said Briden. He said Nason, in the area of Deer Cap Camping Area on Route 16, which is also known as White Mountain Highway, struck their car on the driver’s side with such impact that the engine and the driver’s seat area were entirely crushed.

Janet Baumann “tried to escape the truck,” said Briden, but was unsuccessful.

At trial, Briden said the state will prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Nason acted recklessly and negligently when he chose to ingest fentanyl and then get behind the wheel of his pickup. Tests showed that Nason had 8.1 nanograms per milliliter of fentanyl in his blood after the accident, said Briden, adding that a state witness would testify that at such a level it was unsafe to drive.

When it was his chance to address the jury, Harwood told the members to not waste their time thinking whether, soon after the crash, Nason was found to be in possession of a plastic baggie that contained fentanyl residue, because he did possess it and is therefore guilty as charged.

It was also, Harwood said, “not in dispute that Jason crossed over the line causing the accident,” but added that the “big question” was “Why?”

The state maintains the collision happened because Nason was high on fentanyl, but it doesn’t know whether the level detected in Nason’s blood was at the height or nadir of effect, said Harwood, nor even whether Nason ingested the drug after the collision.