SALEM – A third lawyer has been appointed to defend Edward Salie, the 77-year-old Lynn man charged with crashing his vehicle into a snack stand outside Building 19 in 2005, pinning a woman against the building who lost part of her leg.Salie, who lives with his grandson at 94 Western Ave., was expected to go on trial next week, but now, due to the temporary suspension of his attorney, Bernard J. MacCullum, of Revere, a third attorney had to be appointed.Thursday in Salem Superior Court, Assistant District Attorney Michael A. Sheehan told Judge Richard E. Welch, III, that he had received correspondence from MacCullum that he has been temporarily suspended from practicing law.As a result, Welch appointed Russell Sobelman of Lynn to defend Salie in his upcoming trial.Because a new attorney has now entered the case, Sobelman will need ample time to get up to speed on the case and review all materials involving the case before he can be ready for trial. The next scheduled court date on the case is June 12 for a pretrial conference.In the meantime, Salie, who appeared in court wheelchair bound, remains under house arrest only to leave the home for court, attorney and medical appointments.Salie’s prior attorneys William O’Hare and MacCallum were retained by Salie, but now he has been deemed indigent, meaning he has no money to hire his own attorney, the state will pay all costs, but he is obligated to pay $150 towards the representation.The case stems from an incident on the afternoon of Aug. 1, 2005 when Salie, operating an Oldsmobile, struck a sausage stand in the parking lot of Building 19 at 810 Lynnway, pinning Paula Monteleone, 65, of Winthrop, against the building.Monteleone was rushed to Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston for severe injuries to her legs. One leg was partially severed as a result of the accident.Sheehan maintains that Salie was drunk at the time of the accident and that police smelled alcohol on his breath as they questioned him.Salie, from the onset, has said through his attorney that he lost control on his car and he had not consumed any alcohol that day.He faces charges of operating a motor vehicle while drunk, third offense; operating a motor vehicle with a blood alcohol level at .08 or above, third offense; aggravated assault with battery with a dangerous weapon and two counts of operating a motor vehicle negligently while under the influence of alcohol and causing serious bodily injury?charges he vehemently denies.
