A mistrial has been declared in the case of a Gloucester man charged with manslaughter in connection to the death of a co-worker who was left unconscious in his car on a cold night after he ingested drugs at an office Christmas party.
The trial for Robert S. Lezynski, 45, started Monday in Salem Superior Court, but Judge David Lowy declared the mistrial late Wednesday because new evidence has come to light, according to the district attorney's office.
Prosecutors say Lezynski, 45, sold a drug patch containing the painkiller Fentanyl for $50 to Richard Beaulier, also of Gloucester, at a Christmas party on Dec. 17, 2004. The patch is designed to release the drug slowly, through the skin, but Beaulier, 38, apparently opened the patch and ate the drug, then passed out, prosecutors believe.
Lezynski put Beaulier in Beaulier's car, then drove the unconscious man to his home on Essex Street, parked out front and left Beaulier in the passenger seat on a night of sub-freezing temperatures. He then called 911 to report that Beaulier had stopped breathing and was in his car. But by the time help arrived, prosecutors said, Beaulier was in cardiac arrest. He was pronounced dead at Addison Gilbert Hospital.
It took investigators more than a year to identify Lezynski as the person who sold Beaulier the drug.
On Monday, Rebecca Whitehill, Lezynski's defense lawyer, said in her opening argument that Beaulier bought or was given the Fentanyl patch by someone else, the most likely candidate being a woman with whom he had spent the day.
Gloucester police Lt. Michael Lane yesterday said investigators are still conducting interviews in the case and confirmed that new evidence had been presented, but he could not say what it was.
Lezynski was indicted on the manslaughter charge in June 2006. He was arrested several days later by Gloucester police.
He has been free since posting $10,000 bail in September 2006.
The district attorney's office said Lezynski will be back in court on March 11 when a date for the new trial will be set.
Patrick Anderson contributed to this report by Andrea Holbrook, who may be reached at aholbrook@gloucestertimes.com.
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