Charges Dropped Against Waltham Man in Hit-And-Run Case

Prosecutors have dropped the charges against a Waltham man in connection with a deadly hit-and-run crash in November 2011, according to the Middlesex County District Attorney’s Office.

DA spokesman Mary Beth Long told Waltham Patch prosecutors plan to refile the charges against William Vasquez at a later date.

"It was a technical error but it did [not] effect the validity, [of the charges],” Long said.

Vasquez had been charged with intimidation of a witness for allegedly lying to Waltham Police about who was driving the car that struck and killed Scott Coxall, 39, of Waltham on Nov. 23, 2011. Vasquez’s girlfriend, Blanca Contreras, a Guatemalan native in the U.S. illegally, is facing motor vehicle homicide charges in Coxall’s death. Prosecutors allege she was driving the car.

Court documents indicate authorities submitted the wrong offense date in the charges.

Despite the DA’s explanation, the dismissal comes after Vasquez’s attorney filed a motion to dismiss the charges, citing several conflicting parts of the case.

Attorney Thomas Hensley, in court documents, says there was no probable cause for the charges and that some of the evidence was conflicting. First, Hensley states the Waltham Police did not turn over exculpatory evidence indicating a witness saw a man driving the car. Two other witnesses, according to court records, told police a woman was driving.

Also, in the documents, Hensley states another witness, 16 months after the crash, gave police a “ragtime” set of descriptions saying a woman was driving. The witness apparently gave the statement as he requested police assist him with a probation issue, according to the documents.

Hensley also recounts “dueling confessions” of both Contreras and Vasquez, whom both, at different points during the case admitted to driving.  However, both later told insurance officials that Vasquez was driving.