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What's PlayingBazaarsNov. 21
St. Stanislaus School benefit, 9 to 4 in Kolbe Hall, Adams. Bake sale, snack bar, games, Chinese auctions, money raffle, crafts, and pierogi.
Blackinton Union Church, 1373 Massachusetts Ave., North Adams; 10 to 2. Crafts table, bake sale, Chinese auction, the Christmas table, and kid's grab bag. Lunch $4, $2 kids.
First Congregational Church, North Adams, 9-2.
Nov. 28
Becket Federated Church, Route 8, holiday bazaar from 9-3. Lunch, crafts, baked goods, holiday and other items. Information: Mary Peltier, Parish House, 413-623-5217.
Dec. 5
Holiday Fair at First Congregational Church, 25 Park Place, Lee, from 10 to 3; handcrafted items, raffles, children's shop, bake sale, cut Christmas trees and lunch from 11 to 1. Includes angel-themed goods from SERRV. Information, 413-243-1033 or www.ucc-lee.org.
Dec. 12-13
North Adams Country Club, crafts 9-4; food from That's a Wrap from 11-2. Information: Sheryl Morehouse at 413-822-3329.
Planning a bazaar this season? Submit information to info@iberkshires.com to have it listed here. |
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North Adams Woman Sentenced in Overdose DeathStaff reports
iBerkshires
04:50PM / Thursday, November 05, 2009
PITTSFIELD, Mass. — A North Adams woman was sentenced Thursday to up to six years in state prison in the overdose death of the late Carlen Robinson.
Dawn Cote, 44, was convicted of manslaughter and distribution of fentanyl on Sept. 25 by a Berkshire County jury for supplying Robinson with the drugs that lead to the 32-year-old North Adams woman's death in November 2005.
Judge John A. Agostini sentenced Cote to three to six years at the Massachusetts Correctional Institution at Cedar Junction on the manslaughter charge and a concurrent two- to six-year sentence at Cedar Junction on the distribution charge.
Original posting on Sept. 25, 2009:
North Adams Woman Convicted of Manslaughter in Overdose Death
PITTSFIELD, Mass. — A North Adams woman was found guilty on Friday, Sept. 25, of manslaughter for the overdose death of 32-year-old Carlen Robinson in 2005. The conviction sounds a warning to drug dealers that they will be held responsible for the consequences of their dealing, said prosecutors.
"I am gratified by the jury's verdict," said District Attorney David F. Capeless in a statement. "Those who prey upon the addictions of others need to be held responsible. This was the first time that we had the evidence to prove who caused an overdose death, and it was important to send the message that we can, and will, prosecute these cases and obtain a conviction. "
Dawn Cote, 44, of Liberty Street was found guilty by a Berkshire Superior Court jury of single counts of manslaughter and distribution of Fentanyl, a powerful painkiller. The jury deliberated for about eight hours over two days before returning the verdict. She was charged in 2008.
Cote had sold 10 patches of the fentanyl to Robinson, a North Adams resident who was employed with the Brien Center, over a three-day period, from Nov. 8 to Nov. 11, 2005. Robinson died of an overdose of fentanyl on Nov. 11.
Robinson's mother, Lorraine, had testifed earlier this spring before the Massachusetts OxyContin and Heroin Commission that her daughter had become addicted to painkillers after serious complications from an operation in 2003. Her family had tried to manage her prescriptions and seek counseling but had run into privacy laws and other obstacles.
Cote's attorney, Timothy M. Farris, argued that the sale of the drugs could not be linked directly to his client and that Robinson had misused the patches; he also presented evidence that another drug found in her system could have interacted with the Fentanyl to make it more lethal.
First Assistant District Attorney Paul J. Caccaviello had countered the Cote was aware of her actions in selling the drugs to a woman she knew was an addict.
Judge John A. Agostini ordered that Cote be held without bail at the Berkshire County House of Correction pending sentencing at a later date
Capeless said the rising number of overdose deaths "call out for justice."
I am very proud of the exhaustive investigation that was led by State Police Trooper Brian Berkel, which uncovered the necessary evidence, and by the great job by First Assistant Paul Caccaviello in presenting the case to this jury and convincing them of that evidence," he said. "Together, we are grateful to those witnesses who stepped forward and made this prosecution possible. The jury was most attentive and obviously made a thoughtful decision in reaching their verdict, and I thank them for their service."
The investigation was conducted by members of the North Adams Police Department and state police detectives assigned to the district attorney's office. |
iBerkshires editor: please don't let your comments section degenerate into the kind of mudslinging that goes on in the Transcript's and Eagle's Topix section! Can we be spared the tit-for-tat insults?
Editor: Agreed. Discussions of personal responsibility are one thing, personal insults are another. These comments are old and were left up but several others were deleted. | | from: do better | on: 11-07-2009 |
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| Oh I see, when it's someone else slinging the insults it's "What hatred you carry", but when it's you, it's perfectly ok. What a jerk! | | from: Not Fooled! | on: 10-07-2009 |
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| What hatred you carry. Better watch out, you never know what life has in store for you. | | from: Smarter THAN a 5th grader | on: 10-07-2009 |
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| By the way, it's "Smarter THAN a 5th grader" not "Smarter then a 5th grader" dummy! Check your own spelling before insulting others. | | from: Not Fooled! | on: 10-06-2009 |
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| Oh please, don't try to discount what I wrote because I wrote it in a hurry and didn't proofread for a few spelling errors! By the way, I am none of the people you assumed I am. I am also not defending the drug dealer! I merely point out that Carlen has been treated as some kind of innocent "victim" here and she was anything but. Let's be honest and call a spade a spade. You obviously are not smarter than a 5th grader as you cannot debate without resorting to personal attacks and name calling. | | from: Not Fooled! | on: 10-06-2009 |
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Unbelievable. How can you defend a drug dealer. How many others do you think she sold to? How much money do you think she made off this scam? Lucky for her husband he didn't die too. The DA's office tried this case based on evidence not her family. Criminal trial by jury. She chose not to plea bargain but go directly to court. Justice spoke and you didn't like the jury's verdict.
Maybe you are part of her family, mother, daughter, or a former customer of hers the way you defend her. First and foremost I would suggest you learn how to spell before you make unfounded accusations. | | from: Smarter then a 5th Grader | on: 10-06-2009 |
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| Well you're right, the family didn't prosecute the dealer, the DA did. But only after the family hounded the DA's office and elected official relentlessly for years. Yes the dealer sold Carlen the patches (meant to be worn on the skin), but is was Carlen who ripped the patch open and sucked the Phentanyl out, not the dealer. She is guilty only of selling drugs, not manslaughter! The family knew what was going on for a long time and failed to properly intervene and the looked for a scapegoat to relinquish their own guilt. Let's be honest, if Carlen were alive and had been caught she would be in jail for purchasing and using illegal drugs. She is more than just an innocent victim as she has been made out to be! This conviction will never and should never hold up on appeal. | | from: Not Folled | on: 10-01-2009 |
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Dear "not fooled"
First, as a parent of a student at CTP,my most sincerest,and prayers go to Carlen's sister, who happens to be the principal. You have to remember, fooled, that Carlen was an aunt, a sister, a daughter to them first. My daughter is aware of the garden,knows why it is there, and actually asked me if we could bring flowers for it. Carlen was sick, she got sucked in, and by the time her family caught up to her, it was much, much too late. The dealer SHOULD be procecuted. She KNEW what she was doing was wrong. She KNEW that Carlen had a problem, and selling her the patches was no different than giving her a loaded pistol. The question was not how "angelic" Carlen was, but should the dealer be held responsible for the death of a person that bought drugs from them illegally. Yes, she should have been, the jury felt that way, and so the gavel dropped.
I'm hoping that with the sentencing today, the family finds some closure and peace. The way I see it, two families suffered here. It's too bad. | | from: Plunkett parent | on: 09-29-2009 |
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| Nobody is looking for a scapegoat. The family didn't prosecute Dawn Cote. The D.A. prosecuted Dawn Cote. I don't think anyone is denying that Carlin had a drug addiction. This was a fact and there is no scapegoat here. | | from: Beeswax | on: 09-27-2009 |
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| i feel that dawn should not have been convicted of manslaughter. yes, she sold the drug to carlen, so she should be charged with drug dealing. but who is the one who sought out dawn for the drugs? who is the one who took the drugs? Carlen was. | | from: | on: 09-27-2009 |
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| you obviously did not know CARLEN.she was a wonderful girl that was kind and was a victim of pain medication to relieve great pain she suffered from a botched operation.she needed help that never came and tragicley ended her life.i know of nobody that ever had a bad word about her during her 32 years.she would always help anyone.her family is very proud of her and will always love her very much | | from: john | on: 09-26-2009 |
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| Carlen's family has been looking for a scapegoat since her death. Carlen was not the "Angel" they made her out to be and I have to ask where was the concerned family before her death. The whole incident is tragic and I don't mean to be heartless, but the whole truth was not told. I also object to the "Shrine" to Carlen which graces a corner of the front of Plunkett School. I hardly think this is a death that we should honor on the property of a public school in Adams! I'm not sure what the message is here, especially for the kids? | | from: Not Fooled! | on: 09-26-2009 |
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