Published November 29, 2006

BURLINGTON — A legal dispute over whether a wealthy former summer resident of Brownington and her son should pay damages to the families of two boys who were killed in a 2004 car accident is growing increasingly complex and bitter.

Charles Meyer was 14 years old when he drove a high-powered car into the ledges along Willoughby Lake.  The accident killed Philip Leno, 17, and Norman Woolard, 16.

The boys’ families are represented by two prominent local attorneys who say that Charles Meyer and his mother, Julie Jensen, behaved in such a “shocking and offensive” way that they should pay punitive damages, in addition to any compensation a jury might award to the families.

Arguments detailed in a growing stack of documents in U.S. District Court in Burlington center around the claim for punitive damages.  Lawyers for Ms. Jensen have asked the court to rule them out before the case goes before a jury.

“For a court to award punitive damages a defendant’s conduct must have been done with malice,” attorney Marc Heath argued in an October motion.  “To constitute malice an act must have been carried out with malevolent intent; wrongful conduct alone is not enough.”

Ms. Jensen and her son barely knew Norman Woolard and had never met Philip Leno, Mr. Heath argues.  There is no evidence that they wished to harm either of the dead boys.

But lawyers for the families have replied that malice can be established even if the defendant expressed no personal ill will against the plaintiff.  If the defendant “exhibited reckless or wanton disregard of a plaintiff’s rights,” they argue, that can constitute malice and justify punitive damages.  The lawyers are state Senator Vince Illuzzi for the Woolard family, and Representative Duncan Kilmartin for the Leno family.

Mr. Kilmartin has claimed that, in permitting Mr. Woolard to take her son for a ride in the “muscle car” she had bought for him, Ms. Jensen behaved in a way that was “atrocious and utterly intolerable in a civilized community.”

Mr. Woolard picked up his friend Philip Leno in Orleans, and at some point turned the wheel over to Charles Meyer.  On August 24, 2004, police received complaints about a car driving through Westmore at very high speeds.  Moments later they were called to the scene of the fatal accident.  Mr. Meyer was able to walk away from the crash.

In their efforts to prove the extent of Ms. Jensen’s alleged recklessness, the families’ attorneys have asked the U.S. District Court to order a mental examination of Mr. Meyer.  They are also seeking all his medical records.

The point, they argue, is that Ms. Jensen knew that her son was not only too young to drive at 14, but also suffered from mental disorders which made it particularly dangerous to let him drive off with Mr. Woolard that day.

Ms. Jensen opposes that request.  And in an “emergency motion to seal” filed on Monday, her attorneys argue that even the request for the medical examination should be sealed from public view.

They are prepared to argue against the motion at a hearing scheduled for December 20, they write.  But in the meantime, they complain, the families’ lawyers, in arguing for the examination, are breaking a promise not to go public with any “sensitive materials” about Charles Meyer.

“In this latest pleading,” Ms. Jensen’s lawyers write, “Counsel for Woolard and Leno again make reference to sensitive and confidential medical information relating to Charles Meyer.  Woolard and Leno also continue in this latest pleading to repeat inflammatory misinformation regarding Charles Meyer.”

Ironically, Mr. Kilmartin and Mr. Illuzzi say they learned about Charles Meyer’s emotional issues from Richard Rubin, the lawyer who represented him when he faced two charges of manslaughter in adult court.

Mr. Rubin was trying to convince prosecutor Keith Flynn to move the case to Juvenile Court — an effort that ultimately succeeded.

Mr. Rubin sought the support of the dead boys’ families, their lawyers note.  “In the course of doing so, the criminal defense attorneys provided the following: 1) a statement from Meyer in open Court during which he admitted operation and responsibility for the crash that resulted in the deaths…, and 2) information about Meyer’s mental health and developmental history.”

Meanwhile, Ms. Jensen’s lawyers say their investigator “has turned up significant and troubling lapses” in the police investigation that led to the adult criminal charges against Charles Meyer.

The families’ lawyers, they note, have used the fact that “Meyer was charged with criminal conduct” to support their argument for punitive damages.

In an effort to have Mr. Flynn explain why he brought those charges, Ms. Jensen subpoenaed him to testify in the federal case.  Mr. Flynn has so far resisted, citing the confidentiality of Juvenile Court proceedings.

In asking the court to compel Mr. Flynn to testify, Ms. Jensen’s lawyers sketch out a radically different account of the accident.  They suggest, too, that Charles Meyer’s lawyers in the criminal case weren’t given all the information police had uncovered.

A private investigator for Ms. Jensen, they say, “learned that the state police discovered a marijuana pipe and a bag of marijuana on the body of Norman Woolard.  The first mention of this evidence by the police was in a supplemental report filed by Trooper Darren Annis on September 25, 2006, more than two years after the accident and just days before the depositions of the troopers began in this matter.”

In addition, the Jensen lawyers write, “the parties disagree on the identity of the car’s driver during the time when it was observed driving recklessly in Westmore.  Charles will testify at deposition that he took over the wheel only moments before the crash.  He will testify that he did so out of concern for their safety given Woolard’s reckless driving and apparent drug use.  He will testify that it was Woolard who was driving the car around Lake Willoughby in a manner that prompted several calls to the police….

“The tragic ending of the ride, however, is not in dispute,” the lawyers continue.  “Both Woolard and Leno were killed in the accident.  Both passengers were found to have evidence of marijuana use in their systems following the crash.  Charles was tested and found to be free from any alcohol or drugs.  He was also wearing a seat belt.”