The state’s highest court today refused to dismiss the motor vehicle homicide case against a Beverly Police officer who struck and killed a 61-year-old woman in a 2007 collision, ruling that “there was no misconduct warranting dismissal” of the charges when prosecutors learned after trial of potentially exculpatory evidence.

“There was sufficient evidence introduced at the defendant’s trial for a rational jury to have found beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant was guilty of motor vehicle homicide,” the high court wrote in a 10-page decision authored by Justice Judith Cowin. “The delayed disclosure of the expert’s material exculpatory opinion, however, requires that the defendant be granted a new trial.”

Though Bonney Burns was killed in Essex County, Suffolk prosecutors tried the case against STUART MERRY, 42, in Peabody District Court last year to avoid even the appearance of a conflict of interest. After three days of testimony and about five hours of deliberation, the jury returned a guilty verdict.

After trial, prosecutors undertook a review of communications between State Police investigators, Essex County prosecutors, and Suffolk prosecutors. It was learned that certain potentially exculpatory information relayed by State Police Sgt. Deborah Ryan to Essex prosecutors was not transmitted to the Suffolk prosecutor who tried the case – in part because of the ethical constraints on parties in conflict of interest assignments.

Prosecutors presented that information to defense attorney Neil Rossman, who moved for a new trial. Prosecutors assented to that second trial but objected to defense efforts to dismiss the case outright.

Merry, who received probation and a fine following his conviction, was at liberty throughout the post-trial developments.

“The motion judge, who was also the trial judge and in the best position to see and evaluate the circumstances, determined that the Essex County prosecutor did not intentionally fail to inform the Suffolk County prosecutor about Ryan’s exculpatory opinion, and that the trial prosecutor was unaware of Ryan’s opinion at the time of trial,” the high court wrote. “The judge further concluded that, because the trial prosecutor was unaware of Ryan’s opinion, there was no misconduct in the prosecutor’s failure to disclose the exculpatory evidence and in relying on his own theory concerning the damage to the windshield.”

Attorneys will return to court to set a new trial date in the near future.