(Left to right) Melrose Place actress Amy Locane looks toward Ellen Torregrossa-O'Connor, one of her two attorneys, while appearing last week before Judge Angela Borkowski for a Miranda hearing in connection with Locane's fatal drunken-driving crash last year. MONTGOMERY — The giggling started soon after she was found sitting in a roadside ditch near the site of a fatal two-car crash, police said.
The woman, actress Amy Locane — smiling, her eyes bloodshot and speech slurred, according to witness testimony — had just crashed her Chevrolet Tahoe into a Mercury Milan on a winding country road in Montgomery Township. She also smelled of alcohol, witnesses testified in Superior Court last week during a Miranda hearing.
A chuckling Locane freely told authorities that night last summer that she had several drinks earlier in the day and had taken 100 milligrams of the antidepressant Zoloft. Test results showed she had a blood-alcohol level more than three times the legal limit.
But it isn’t the drinking that has become the focus of Locane’s latest court appearance on charges of aggravated manslaughter and assault by auto.
Defense attorney Blair Zwillman, a seasoned Woodbridge trial lawyer who once secured eight straight acquittals, has turned the spotlight on the police investigation and medical procedures Locane underwent after the June 27, 2010 crash.
Locane wasn’t properly examined for head trauma or other internal injuries, Zwillman said during the hearing. She was unfairly interrogated by police and unaware of the seriousness of the situation because of her state of mind, he said.
Locane, best known for her appearance on television’s "Melrose Place," returned to Superior Court in Somerville last week for a hearing that will decide if the statements she made during a June 2010 police interview after the accident can be used at the trial.
If convicted, the Hopewell resident could face 30 years behind bars.
During the three-day hearing, which has been continued to Aug. 8, Zwillman challenged police methods and the medical staff’s care of Locane for the several hours she was at University Medical Center at Princeton.
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Locane’s career peaked in the early 1990s, with roles in movies alongside actors such as Johnny Depp, Adam Sandler and Brendan Fraser. She also appeared in "Melrose Place" before being replaced after its first season. But by last year, Locane, now a 39-year-old married mother of two young girls, was part of a stage acting troupe in Hopewell Township.
Just hours before the fatal crash, Locane had wrapped up a month-long acting gig with the Off-Broadstreet Theatre.
It was there, at an after-show party, that she had a few drinks, she told police.
Over the next few hours, she told authorities, she had some more drinks at a party at the Cherry Valley Country Club. By the time she got behind the wheel, Locane told police, she had four glasses of wine and a beer, Montgomery police officer William Wilkes said in court.
Locane’s troubles began as she started to drive home. Around 9 p.m. in Princeton Township, at the intersection of Cherry Valley Road and Route 206, she drove her Tahoe into the back of a minivan driven by area resident Maureen Ruckelshaus, who was stopped at a red light, according to police.
Ruckelshaus approached Locane, who responded with "I’m good, I’m good."
That’s when Ruckelshaus said she tried to rip the actress’s keys from the ignition, according to court documents.
Locane got back into her vehicle and drove off, according to court documents. Ruckelshaus followed, and a pursuit over two miles of countryside roads began, court documents state. During the chase, Locane allegedly knocked down two mailboxes and hit a Belgian block curb.
When the vehicles reached Cherry Hill Road in Montgomery, Locane sped up and slammed into the side of the Milan, Ruckelshaus told police. Authorities said they determined Locane was traveling 53 mph in a 35 mph zone.
The crash killed the passenger in the Milan, 60-year-old Helene Seeman. Her husband, Fred, who was driving, was critically injured.
Seeman had been making a left turn into his driveway when he felt "a violent boom like a bomb going off," according to court papers.
Locane stumbled out of her SUV and into the ditch, according to court documents. Soon afterward, the actress began to talk. A lot, according to witness testimony.
When medics tried to place a neck brace on Locane in the ambulance, she said, "Why are you making such a big deal? You’re being overly dramatic," according to Wilkes, the Montgomery police officer who kept watch on her.
Actress Amy Locane at her first court appearance stemming from a fatal DUI incident in June 2010.At the hospital, she asked questions repeatedly, despite having them answered minutes earlier, Wilkes said. And when Locane had her blood drawn, the officer said she asked, "So, am I pregnant or just drunk?"
Authorities later learned Locane’s blood alcohol content was .268, more than three times the legal limit of 0.08. She was issued a summons for a DWI, which will be resolved once her Superior Court case is over, Zwillman said.
Locane’s intoxication isn’t a point of contention for Zwillman, at least for this hearing.
Instead, the defense attorney is arguing Locane was put in a situation in which she could not fend for herself.
Zwillman said Locane could have suffered a head injury in the crash, though Assistant Prosecutor Matthew Murphy said that claim is not supported by any evidence.
Zwillman said Locane was never given a thorough exam for such an injury, and one first-aid responder, Fred Larcombe, testified in court the symptoms of intoxication and head trauma could appear similar.
The defense attorney also took issue with the use of Ativan nearly a half-hour before Locane’s interrogation at the hospital. A doctor had given the actress an intravenous dose of the anti-anxiety medication in order to calm her down, according to testimony from nurse Christine Wiggins.
Melrose Place actress Amy Locane holds her head in her hand as she appears last week before Judge Angela Borkowski for a Miranda hearing in connection with a Locane's fatal drunken-driving crash last year.What also bothered Zwillman was that Locane had little idea of the severity of the crash.
From the ambulance ride to the moment Locane waived her Miranda rights at the start of the interrogation, she was only told she was involved in a serious collision.
In a rambling interview after the accident, conducted in the hospital with Michael Schutta, a detective from the Somerset County Prosecutor’s Office, Locane said she couldn’t remember details from the crash or knocking down the mailboxes.
At that point, no one had told Locane one person had died in the car she hit and another was in critical condition. Detectives said they refrained from telling Locane to ensure a candid statement. She learned of the death and injury after authorities finished questioning her, according to police. That’s when Locane’s smile and giggles disappeared, save for a moment when she posed in the hospital for a police file mug shot, according to authorities.
It was a sullen demeanor that remained on the ride to the police station. And it remains as she sits in court, watching her criminal case stretch into another month.
The Times of Trenton contributed to this report.