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Suspect pleads not guilty to January hit-and-run

Posted on May 20, 2010, at 8:24 p.m.

The South Berwick man charged with the Jan. 30 hit-and-run death of University of Maine student Jordyn Bakley pleaded not guilty earlier today.

Garrett Cheney, 22, is charged with several crimes, including manslaughter, aggravated criminal operating under the influence of intoxicants, leaving the scene of an accident that resulted in serious bodily injury, and criminal operating under the influence of intoxicants. Cheney entered his plea at the Penobscot Judicial Center in Bangor.

Cheney turned himself into Maine State Police in Orono on April 16 after a warrant was issued for his arrest. According to an April article in The Maine Campus, pieces of debris at the crime scene on Middle Street in Orono matched Cheney’s 2003 Chevrolet Silverado.

Cheney was involved in another accident at 3:30 a.m. the same morning on Interstate 95 in Etna, approximately about 30 minutes after Bakley died.

William Bly, the Biddeford-based OUI attorney representing Cheney, believes the suspect’s call to the police after the Etna accident demonstrates his innocence.

“That is not consistent with someone that would run down a young woman and leave her at the side of the road and not call the police,” Bly told The Maine Campus on April 22. “I would certainly hope that people aren’t too quick to rush to judgment. These are just the accusations. The presumption of innocence has to remain.”

Penobscot District Attorney R. Christopher Almy, however, believes that Cheney’s guilt is undeniable.

“The evidence in its totality will show that Mr. Cheney was the driver in this case.” Almy told the Bangor Daily News Thursday.

No trial date has been scheduled.

This entry was posted on Thursday, May 20th, 2010, 8:24 pm. You can follow any responses to this article through the RSS feed.