BRENTWOOD — One of the men accused of providing the heroin that led to the death of a teenage girl in Kingston in 2006 will stand trial in March.
Arturo Sanchez of Lawrence was arrested there in August 2007, and was charged in New Hampshire with selling the heroin that killed Caitlyn Brady, 18, of Newton.
Several others have already been sentenced in connection with Brady's death. Her then-boyfriend, Dante Silva of Newton, is serving 10 years to life in prison for giving her the heroin that killed her. Jay Simes of Kingston, who purchased the heroin from Sanchez, is serving five to 10 years in state prison.
Another man, Robert Drew of Kingston, was charged as an accomplice for driving Simes to meet Sanchez.
Sanchez appeared in Rockingham County Superior Court briefly yesterday, and proceedings were translated for him.
A Richards hearing, which determines whether a witness can properly invoke his or her Fifth Amendment rights in refusing to testify, was scheduled for yesterday.
Both Silva and Simes were transported to court for the hearing yesterday, but Silva's attorney did not appear and Simes' former attorney, Adam Bernstein, no longer represents him. Simes asked Judge Tina Nadeau to speak to an attorney.
She postponed the hearing until both men could appear in court with attorneys.
Senior Assistant County Attorney Tom Reid said the state would be willing to offer the two men "use immunity."
He said that meant the court would compel the men to testify. Once testimony is compelled, it and any derivative evidence cannot be held against the witness for any new crimes they might reveal. The men were not granted deals to testify when they were sentenced and won't have any of their jail time reduced to testify, Reid said.
"We're doing a balance in the interest of justice, and the truth-seeking function would benefit from hearing what they have to say," Reid said.
Sanchez is scheduled to go to trial March 7.
Silva was charged under a law that brings harsher sentences for providing drugs that lead to somebody's death — the same charges Simes and now Sanchez face.
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