Prosecutor names 35 witnesses to Salem doctor's crash
Oct. 26—SALEM, N.H. — Assistant Rockingham County Attorney Melissa Fales anticipates calling up to 35 witnesses in the case against Dr. Scott Dowd, who is accused of drunkenly crashing his car into a home and severely injuring a 5-year-old girl in July.
Newly filed court documents reveal names of neighbors, law enforcement, firefighters and medical professionals who will testify against Dowd if the matter proceeds to a 4-day trial tentatively scheduled for April 2022.
The list includes three Tufts Medical Center doctors, two New Hampshire forensic lab criminalists, five members of the Salem Fire Department, a New Hampshire State Police trooper and 14 Salem police officers.
The victim's father, Joseph Tutrone, is included as a witness along with seven others who live nearby or were in the area during the incident. One of Dowd's Surrey Road neighbors is also slated to testify against him.
A 37-year-old physician, Dowd lives within a mile of the crash site, town records show. He also works locally, specializing in interventional spine and pain medicine for Lawrence General Hospital and Holy Family Hospital affiliates.
Police say that he admitted at the scene to consuming four vodka drinks but did not remember the crash.
The anticipated trial will focus on the afternoon of Saturday, July 10, when police received several 911 calls alerting them of a car into 16 Silver Brook Road.
Responding officers say Giuliana Tutrone, who has since celebrated her 6th birthday, was being cared for on the front lawn by her dad and two strangers praised as heroes — landscaper Scott Demers and Dr. Timothy Chu, who lives nearby.
Surveillance footage from inside the Tutrone's home shows Giuliana walking into a room where her brother was moments before the crash. According to Joseph Tutrone, only his daughter was physically injured.
He recalls rushing her outside in response to the shocking impact, unsure if she was alive.
A police affidavit states that her jaw was broken and a lacerated vein had to be sewn to the left side of her neck. A muscle was torn off the same side of her neck, police said, and her skull could be seen through a deep cut.
A neighbor later told investigators that she was cleaning a front window when she watched Dowd crash into her granite mailbox.
The affidavit says the force was enough to launch a piece of granite into the air and into the Tutrone's home — through an office, into the foyer area and landing in a dining area on the opposite side of the house.
This week, Joseph Tutrone said structural concerns have been addressed and the family is working on healing.
Giuliana has started first grade, but suffers from post traumatic stress disorder, he said. He and his son — the one who escaped injury — have felt similarly.
"Nothing compares to losing her," Joseph Tutrone said. "But it's affecting all of us."
He says his daughter experiences panic instead of joy during activities she typically looked forward to, like T-ball and gymnastics.
The family is utilizing services offered by the Center for Life Management, a group that aims to better mental health and emotional well-being in the community.
Joseph Tutrone says worry heightens as Dowd's court hearings get closer.
"We've been told that the defense is trying to suppress his blood alcohol level that day," he said. "We have to wait until December for the judge to rule on that."
Dowd is charged with three felony crimes — first degree assault on a victim younger than 13 resulting in serious injury, aggravated driving while intoxicated resulting in serious injury and three counts of reckless conduct with a deadly weapon.
