PITTSFIELD, Mass. — The trial for Joseph Thompson on motor vehicle negligent homicide charges was delayed yet again after the bus carrying jurors to the scene of the 2018 accident got in an accident itself on First Street on Monday. 

 

The bus mishap led Superior Court Judge Jennifer Tyne to declare a mistrial. A new trial date was set for Sept. 19, with a trial readiness conference scheduled for Aug. 16. 

 

Tyne also was on board the bus along with attorneys and other court officers when it was hit head-on by a pickup truck at about 1 p.m.

 

The jurors were expected to view the area at South Church Street near Berkshire Family and Individual Resources where the fatal accident occurred on July 20, 2018. 

 

According to police reports, Steven Fortier, 49, was southbound on his Harley-Davidson motorcycle at about 10 p.m. when he collided with Thompson's northbound Audi sport utility vehicle. Thompson allegedly attempted to avoid Fortier, who he said was in the northbound lane as he came around the curve from Ashland Street. Both collided in the southbound lane. 

 

Toxicology tests show that Fortier had a blood alcohol level of .28 percent, or more than four times the legal limit, but the clerk-magistrate found sufficient evidence to bring the case to trial. Thompson, 63, former longtime director of Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art, is also charged with a marked lanes violation.

 

The trial had been expected to start in early 2020 but was delayed by the pandemic, along with numerous other cases.