Prosecutor: Driver in fatal crash here illegally

By Danielle Ameden/Daily News staff
Milford Daily News
Posted Jan 08, 2010 @ 11:33 PM
MILFORD β€”

A Milford woman charged with motor vehicle homicide in connection with September's fatal two-car wreck on South Main Street is in the country illegally, a prosecutor said yesterday.

Maria T. Leite, a native of Portugal, was granted a visa that permitted her to be in the United States, but only until Nov. 23, 2006, said Assistant District Attorney Robert Shea.

Given concern she might now flee the country, Milford District Court Judge Robert B. Calagione granted Shea's request that Leite, 41, surrender her passport and be placed under house arrest pending trial.

"It's our hope that she remain available until this case is resolved," Shea told the judge.

He recalled a past case where a defendant in a similar situation fled the country.

"We would like to avoid that scenario," he said.

Leite, of 19 Mount Pleasant St., was silent during her arraignment yesterday afternoon on a charge of motor vehicle homicide by negligent driving.

Several loved ones of Milford resident Richard Grossi, who authorities say died following the Sept. 12 crash, sat in the courtroom gallery.

Through a Portuguese interpreter, Calagione told Leite he entered a not-guilty plea on her behalf.

Police say Leite admitted she failed to stop on Fruit Street Extension before she tried to cut across South Main Street onto Fruit Street about 8:45 a.m. on Sept. 12. The 1998 Kia SUV she was driving struck the 2002 Dodge sedan Grossi was driving south on South Main.

Leite was arraigned last month on charges of unlicensed driving and failure to stop or yield. Police brought the new charge as result of an independent crash team's investigation done after Grossi died.

Grossi, who lived on South Main Street, was hurt in the crash, but was expected to recover. However, he died Oct. 21 at UMass Memorial Medical Center.

Defense attorney Paulo J. Moura said Leite came to America seven years ago and is the family's main breadwinner. She is married and has a 14-year-old daughter.

Moura argued against having his client wear a global positioning device that Shea requested as a condition of her release.

"She has fully cooperated," Moura said of the police investigation.

Calagione honored Shea's request, calling it "reasonable," and gave Leite windows to leave her home for work and family responsibilities.

An additional condition is that she not operate a motor vehicle.

The maximum sentence for the motor vehicle homicide charge is 2 1/2 years in the House of Correction, according to the district attorney's office.

Leite is due back in court Feb. 19 for a pretrial conference.

Her husband, Manuel Leite, was also in court yesterday. He is charged with allowing an unlicensed person to drive his SUV.

Speaking for the Leites, Moura declined to comment outside the courtroom, as did Grossi's family.

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