A Manchester man, who was tried four times and eventually acquitted for a 1997 shooting at the Bahama Beach Club in Nashua, has had his conviction upheld by the state Supreme Court in a murder case that occurred seven years later.

Etienne Dickens, whose initial conviction in the Bahama Beach Club shootings was overturned because of problems with evidence presented to the jury, had argued that his conviction on a 2004 killing should also be overturned, because of problems with testimony.

The Supreme Court, in a ruling handed down Wednesday, disagreed. The ruling hinges on several unrelated legal issues, such as the length to which prosecutors must go to show exculpatory evidence to juries and the legislature’s intent when establishing laws that allow deadly force.

Dickens Etienne, also known as Etienne Dickens, was convicted with second-degree murder for the death of Larry Lemieux, 25, of Manchester, who was shot to death outside Etienne’s apartment building at 265-267 Central St. in Manchester. The two men had a history of disagreements.

The Nashua case began when Etienne was accused of opening fire on the dance floor of the Bahama Beach Club on Sept. 1, 1997. A young man from Lawrence, Mass., was shot five or six times, and two bystanders also were hit. All survived.

The shooting stemmed from an ongoing conflict between groups of black youths from Manchester and Hispanic youths from Lawrence, Mass., who were drawn to the club’s under-21 dance nights. The club closed in 1998, and the building was torn down two years later.

Etienne was arrested the next day, charged with first-degree assault and attempted murder, and jailed while facing trial.

His first two trials ended in mistrials. He was convicted in his third trial, in 1998, and sentenced to 35 to 70 years in prison, but the state Supreme Court overturned his conviction in 2001, finding evidence was wrongly kept out of the trial.

Etienne was freed after he was acquitted at his fourth trial, in November 2001. Three years later he was arrested for Lemieux’s death.

David Brooks can be reached at 594-6531 or dbrooks@nashuatelegraph.com.