| 9/3/2014 2:00:00 PM D.A. Candidate: 'We Can Do Better' | ||
Democratic candidate for district attorney David Sinclair, of Bath, believes the office can alleviate the fiscal and social costs of incarceration through alternatives already in use elsewhere around the state. "I'm running because I know we can do better," Sinclair said. "We can achieve better social outcomes by pursuing better policies." Sinclair opened a law office in Bath in 2010. He practices criminal defense law, as well as civil matters and family law. Sinclair represents Ward 6 on the Bath City Council. He will complete his second consecutive three-year term in November and does not plan to run again. "The district attorney cannot hold another elected post, and it's my intention to be the district attorney starting on Jan. 1, so I'm not standing for election for another term on the council," Sinclair said. Sinclair supports the use of restorative justice programs and a program that would allow destitute offenders to work off fines through community service. The policies of the district attorney's office have instituted a cycle wherein "first-time offenders become second-time offenders and then third-time offenders, and each time, with each new offense, the severity of the offense is escalated," Sinclair said. The district attorney's office can help end this cycle if it pays more attention to how the system treats first-time offenders, Sinclair said. Restorative justice focuses on repairing harm to people and relationships rather than on punishing offenders, according to the International Institute for Restorative Practices. For example, if a young man vandalizes a building, he might repair the damage and work with a mentor and the victim to better understand the effect of his crime. The average first-time offender will reoffend between 60 and 70 percent of the time, Sinclair said. Graduates of restorative justice programs reoffend just 20 to 30 percent of the time. "That's a significant improvement, and it's that kind of improvement we need to pursue if we are, in the end, going to cut down on the number of crimes the community suffers and the costs we suffer as a result of those crimes." The costs Sinclair refers to go beyond tax dollars. "There are also significant social costs," Sinclair said. For example, the absence of a parent during a jail sentence affects the children and the other parent. Sinclair would also like to see the district imitate Penobscot County's ReFinement program. Often, courts will levy a fine for a misdemeanor crime and the criminal lacks the money to pay the fine. The criminal falls behind on fine payments, the court issues a warrant, police arrest the offender, and the offender goes back to court. The system invests "a huge amount of resources" when, often, nothing can be done except to change the fine payment schedule, Sinclair said. The ReFinement program allows people who cannot pay their fines to perform community service. For every day of work, the individual earns credit toward the fine. The program saves resources and reinforces the individual's connection to their community, Sinclair said. Despite his advocacy for ReFinement and restorative justice, Sinclair acknowledges that some crimes need "firm prosecution." If the office can reduce petty crime, however, it can apply more resources to serious crimes, he said. Sinclair said he would differ from the present administration in his hesitance to negotiate plea deals. "There are certain types of cases where we have seen a great likelihood of resolution of the case through a plea deal ... I would have a very low likelihood of offering plea deals, particularly in domestic violence circumstances," he said. Sinclair, 45, was born at Miles Memorial Hospital in Damariscotta and grew up in Maine. "My mom was a single mom who raised four children," Sinclair said. "I learned a great deal from her about the importance of work ethic and of always finding the positive in any situation, and finding ways to improve any situation." He graduated from Cony High School in Augusta and Brandeis University in Waltham, Mass., where he was a computer science major and a sociology minor. He worked in the technology sector for more than a decade before earning his law degree at the University of Maine School at Law in Portland. He bought a camp on Little River in East Boothbay in 1999 and moved permanently to Bath some years later. Sinclair mounted an unsuccessful bid for the Democratic nomination for Maine Senate District 19 in a special election in 2013. Eloise Vitelli, of Arrowsic, won the nomination behind key endorsements from her predecessor, Senate Majority Leader Seth Goodall, D-Richmond, and House Majority Leader Seth Berry, D-Bowdoinham. She went on to win the election. Sinclair sits on the board of the Bath Area Food Bank and serves as an alternate on the Lincoln and Sagadahoc Multicounty Jail Authority, which oversees Two Bridges Regional Jail. He faces an entrenched opponent in five-term incumbent District Attorney Geoff Rushlau. "Incumbents are more likely to win, all else being equal, but we're not in a situation where all else is equal," Sinclair said. "It's clear that we need some change." Rushlau has had an opponent in three of the last five elections, and those three races were "fairly close," Sinclair said. "I don't at all see it as an unclimbable hill." "I have great respect for the incumbent, Mr. Rushlau," Sinclair said. "I think the entire district ought to be appreciative of his service, and I have absolutely nothing negative to say about him. I just have a different set of policies to pursue that I think will yield better results." "We need some fresh ideas in this district, and we need someone with the energy and passion to pursue those ideas," Sinclair said. Outside the office, he likes to spend time with his wife, Lauren, their infant son, Beckett, and their two dogs, at home or at their East Boothbay camp. He and his wife are beekeepers, and he also likes to kayak. |
Wednesday, September 17, 2014
D.A. Candidate: 'We Can Do Better'
http://lincolncountynewsonline.com/main.asp?SectionID=1&SubSectionID=75&ArticleID=62513
Sinclair ready to step onto Augusta stage
http://www.timesrecord.com/news/2013-07-19/Front_Page/Sinclair_ready_to_step_onto_Augusta_stage.html
Sinclair ready to step onto Augusta stage
¦ NAME: David A. Sinclair AGE: 44 RESIDENCE: Bath OCCUPATION: attorney, formerly software and business process consultant EDUCATION: Brandeis University, BA, University of Maine Law School, JD POLITICAL EXPERIENCE: city councilor, Ward 6, Bath
BATH
Where's the story?
6 Points Mentioned
6 Points Mentioned
“I entered the race when I did because of the circumstance of Seth Goodall’s resignation, but I’d actually been thinking about running for some time,” said David Sinclair, a Democrat.
He said he first discussed it with his family.
“My wife Lauren was hugely supportive,” he said, smiling. “Beckett didn’t say anything negative about it, so I’ll take that as support.” Beckett is Sinclair’s 7-month-old son.
Sinclair, curently a Ward 6 councilor for the city of Bath, has legislative priorities as well as temperament priorities that inform his candidacy.
“We need to reinstate funding for the mental health system,” he said. Sinclair is on the board of the Two Bridges Jail in Wiscasset.
“People who can’t afford health care coverage are getting mental health care; they’re just doing it in jail. That’s not only inefficient, unfortunately it means the community has to suffer a crime before someone gets help.”
Sinclair said he is also concerned about income inequality, but more so about why bills with popular support often fail to be enacted.
He cited as an example a minimum wage bill that failed to overcome a guberna- torial veto this year. The bill passed the House by wide margins, but passed in the Senate along party lines.
“Some bills are just nobrainers,” he said. “A bill that would allow people to unsubscribe from electronic things they subscribed to didn’t get enough votes to override a veto? Does that make any sense?”
That, according to Sinclair, is where temperament comes in.
“We need more trust and collaboration among legislators,” he said. “I have a fiveyear record of forming collaborations. We don’t always agree in the City Council, but when we don’t agree, it’s not because we are clinging to a party ideology, it’s just that we don’t agree. That’s how it should be.”
Especially in the current political climate, Sinclair says cooler heads in the Legislature have to work together. “There are people on the Republican side who are reasonable — Sen. (Roger) Katz (R-Augusta) and Sen. (Patrick) Flood (R-Winthrop) come to mind — who can be approached and worked with. My method would be to approach those who are approachable ... and get the people’s business done.”
Sinclair is attending town committee meetings and chatting with Democrats from the whole district. He’s also getting to know the other candidates better.
There are currently three candidates in the race for the Democratic nod. In addition to Sinclair, Eloise Vitelli and Will Neilson, both of Arrowsic, will face off in the Sagadahoc County Committee meeting’s caucus Tuesday.
The winner of the Democratic caucus will likely face former state Sen. Paula Benoit, a Phippsburg Republican, although there is some speculation that Georgetown resident and former State Treasurer Bruce Poliquin may enter the Republican race. The Maine Independent Green Party is in the field, too, nominating Daniel Stromgren, a 40-year-old social worker from Topsham, on July 17.
In addition to his board work for Two Bridges, Sinclair is also on the Bath Food Bank’s board. He and his wife enjoy kayaking and spending time with their son and their two dogs.
Sinclair’s brother and his family live in Bath, and they often get together. The Sinclair family also has a cottage in East Boothbay where they go on occasional weekends.
DA Geoffrey Rushlau Wants to Shut Down County Jail and Rehab Center
http://www.boothbayregister.com/article/county-jail-seeks-funding-help-state/13481
County jail seeks funding help from state
Posted:
Tuesday, April 30, 2013 - 5:00pm
Sagadahoc and Lincoln County officials spoke before the Criminal Justice and Public Safety Committee April 29 in support of a law to have the state Board of Corrections make interest payments toward the two-county jail's debt service.
The proposed law, LD 1320, an Act to Fairly Distribute the Debt Burden between State and County Correctional Facilities, was co-sponsored by Sen. Chris Johnson (District 20 – Somerville) and Rep. Bruce MacDonald (District 61 – Boothbay).
Among those who testified were: Lincoln County Administrator John O'Connell, Two Bridges Regional Jail Administrator Col. Mark Westrum, Sagadahoc County Sheriff Joel Merry, Lincoln County Sheriff Todd Brackett, District Attorney Geoffrey Rushlau, former State Representative Les Fossel and Lincoln County Commissioners William Blodgett and Hamilton Meserve.
Two Bridges Regional Jail is one of four flagship county jails in the state that collectively pay millions of dollars in debt service each year. This is in addition to costs for corrections, according to Westrum and others who spoke in favor of the bill. No one spoke against the bill, according to O'Connell.
In O'Connell's address to the committee, he said, “This legislation is very important to the taxpayers of our small county. We are in effect subsidizing inmates from elsewhere, including the state, and not getting appropriate compensation.”
A brief history
Residents from Lincoln and Sagadahoc counties approved a $24.6 million bond to construct the jail several years ago and have been paying on that bond ever since. With the opening of the jail in 2006, voters were told the revenue generated from out-of-county inmates (at $85 per day) would go far in paying down what was owed, according to Westrum. But the amount the jail received for these inmates changed to less than $23 per day in 2008. Interest continued to accrue.
Also, the dynamics of the jail changed. “It's not really a county jail, it's not quite a prison, either,” Rushlau said, speaking of Two Bridges' current status during a follow-up interview. “It's really something else because a large proportion of the population is not from Lincoln or Sagadahoc counties.”
Speaking not from a formal letter, but from memory, Rushlau explained the original intent of the jail. He said Two Bridges was planned as a county jail. Each county needed improved access to housing inmates and those involved planned carefully for a long term approach. Rushlau said boarding a majority of inmates from out of county has proved to be a financial burden on the two counties.
The Investment Fund
Westrum said the amount his jail was funded changed in 2008 when the state formed the Board of Corrections. In response to this loss in revenue, the board created an Investment Fund.
Taxpayers from all of the other counties pay into this fund to pick up the difference, according to jail staff. Regular news reports show that jails are often at odds as to how the funds are dispersed and officials are concerned about an ever-tightening budget.
The debt service
Lincoln and Sagadahoc counties each still owe roughly $10 million in debt service, according to O'Connell. Lincoln County raises about $8.5 million in tax revenue, of which $2.4 million is paid to Two Bridges and $1 million goes to pay debt service each year.
So far, both counties have paid $6,702,738 in interest and $14,512,737 in principal and interest, according to Westrum. In his address to the committee, Westrum said. “We are not asking them (other counties and agencies) to share the burden of the debt, only the interest.”
LD 1320
The proposed bill essentially allows the counties to allocate the percentage of the interest on the debt owed proportional to the number of out-of-county inmates housed at the county jails, and to include this amount in the jail budget.
The legislation reads: “As long as the percentage of the population from outside of the county is more than 10 percent, the county may include a percentage of the interest associated with corrections debt that is equal to the percentage of inmates from outside the county in its budget to the State Board of Corrections.”
Sagadahoc County Administrator Pamela Hile gave an example of how this would work in her address to the committee. If Two Bridges averages 40 percent county and 60 percent non-county inmate populations, then 60 percent of the interest would be included in the jail budget.
“This is an issue of fairness and equity,” Hile said. “And the relief proposed under LD 1320 is done in a way that will have minimal impact on the system; allow TBRJ to continue to play a crucial role in supporting the consolidated system; and provide some assistance to the overburdened property owners in counties such as Lincoln and Sagadahoc.”
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ABOUT US
This is a public information blog intended to inform Maine’s citizens about the corruption and illegal acts of DA Geoffrey Rushlau. It is not written by any public official or any public servant and is not associated with the campaign to elect David Sinclair for DA in 2014, https://www.facebook.com/sinclairforda
This November 2014, Vote David Sinclair for District Attorney - Knox, Waldo, Lincoln, Sagadahoc Counties
http://bangordailynews.com/2014/03/17/politics/bath-city-councilor-to-challenge-veteran-district-attorney-in-four-county-midcoast-race/
Bath city councilor to challenge veteran district attorney in four-county midcoast race
David Sinclair
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Posted March 17, 2014, at 11:52 a.m.
BATH, Maine — A Bath city councilor has filed papers to seek the district attorney post held for 21 years by Republican Geoffrey Rushlau, who has not faced a re-election challenger in eight years.
David Sinclair filed his papers last week to run in prosecutorial District 6, which covers Knox, Waldo, Lincoln and Sagadahoc counties.
Sinclair, a Democrat, will be completing his second consecutive three-year term on the Bath City Council at the end of this year.
Sinclair has run a private law practice in Bath for four years. He said he returned to law school after 16 years of running a software development company and being a computer consultant. He has a law degree from the University of Maine School of Law in Portland.
Rushlau has announced he will seek another term.
Rushlau, a Dresden resident, is one of the state’s most veteran prosecutors, having been appointed to the district attorney post in June 1993 by then-Gov. John McKernan, when William Anderson was appointed to a judicial post. Rushlau has since been elected to the post in 1994, 1998, 2002, 2006 and 2010.
Rushlau had previously served as an assistant district attorney in Androscoggin County and then Sagadahoc County beginning in 1981.
Sinclair said he wants to focus on better outcomes and to reduce recidivism. He said programs such as the Restorative Justice Project of the Midcoast are important. The state is spending a lot of money to keep people in jail and a lot of money on mental health services for people in jail, he said.
District attorneys in Maine are elected to four-year terms.
No other candidates have filed papers for the prosecutorial seat. Candidates not enrolled in either party have until June 2 to file nomination papers with the Maine secretary of state.
The party primaries are scheduled for June 10, and the general election is Nov. 4.
Vote for David Sinclair, District 6 District Attorney, November 2014
http://www.timesrecord.com/news/2014-03-14/Front_Page/Sinclair_to_run_for_district_attorney.html
Sinclair to run for district attorney
Bath city councilor opts not to seek re-election
DAVID SINCLAIRBATH
City Councilor David Sinclair will step down from his Ward 6 seat to oppose five-time District Attorney Geoffrey Rushlau.
Sinclair said he sees opportunities as district attorney to make changes in how prosecutions occur that would result in benefits for the people of the district.
“We are seeing a continued high recidivism rate,” Sinclair said. “We are still prosecuting offenders the way we did 20 years ago. I would like to begin a collaborative program of jail diversion, along with successful re-entry into society after incarceration.”Sinclair said he sees opportunities as district attorney to make changes in how prosecutions occur that would result in benefits for the people of the district.
The race is to prosecute cases in Maine’s Judicial District 6, which encompasses Sagadahoc, Lincoln, Knox and Waldo counties.
His opponent, incumbent Geoffrey Rushlau, filed his nominating papers Feb. 19 announcing his intentions.
Rushlau, a Dresden Republican, was appointed to the post in June 1993 and then elected to it in 1994, 1998, 2002, 2006 and 2010. He had served prior as an assistant district attorney in Androscoggin Countyand then Sagadahoc County beginning in 1981.
Rushlau has recently been under fire for his decision not to prosecute Cheryl Torgerson for any criminal activity after she plowed into a group of pedestrians waiting for a ferry in Port Clyde. Nine-year-old Dylan Gold was killed and his mother, Allison Gold, and another man, Jonathan Coggeshall, were seriously injured.
Sinclair says focusing on serving as district attorney will mean he will not run for re-election to Bath City Council when his term expires at the end of the year.
Sinclair’s ambitions for higher office were made clear with his surprise announcement last summer that he was seeking the Democratic Party’s nomination to succeed Seth Goodall representing Sagadahoc County in the Maine Senate.
State Sen. Eloise Vitelli, DArrowsic, was nominated on the first ballot and went on to keep Goodall’s seat Democratic by defeating former state Rep. Paula Benoit, RPhippsburg, and Daniel Stromgren, G-Topsham.
“I entered the race when I did because of the circumstance of Seth Goodall’s resignation, but I’d actually been thinking about running for some time,” Sinclair said at the time.
As a potential DA, Sinclair said it is much more expensive to treat issues such as mental illness and substance abuse within a prison or jail setting.
“I would engage with the Legislature to restore funding to community programs, and demonstrate how treatment during incarceration does not lead to net savings, but rather, magnifies the cost to communities.”
He also said that many of the costs to the community are a result of poverty and homelessness.
As an example, he pointed to the ReFinement Program in Penobscot County.
“The way it works now, if someone can’t pay a fine, is that we issue a warrant for his arrest, he is arrested by police, an assistant DA has to prosecute him, a judge has to hear the case, and in many cases, a legal defender has to stand with him in court, all because he has no money to pay a fine. In Penobscot County, the ReFinement Program allows someone who can’t pay a fine to work for a nonprofit. He is using his labor, perhaps learning new skills and getting free of his debt, while the community receives a benefit. There is no reason we could not do that today in District 6.”
Sinclair had eight volunteers who collected the number of signatures he needed to get on the ballot. His nominating papers were filed March 11, and he said he expects to name his treasurer and the rest of his election team by March 21.
If elected, Sinclair — a practicing attorney — would have two months to help his current clients get settled with another attorney.
The deadline for party candidates to file nomination papers with the state is Monday. Candidates not enrolled in a party have until June 2 to file their papers.
The party primaries are June 10 and the general election is Nov. 4.
DA Geoffrey Rushlau Refuses to Prosecute Fatal Crash that Killed 9-Year-Old Child, Injured Mother and Child
http://bangordailynews.com/2014/02/07/news/midcoast/why-didnt-he-prosecute-in-port-clyde-fatal-crash-knox-county-district-attorney-holds-press-conference-to-further-explain/
Posted Feb. 07, 2014, at 3:44 p.m.
Last modified Feb. 08, 2014, at 6:08 a.m.
Last modified Feb. 08, 2014, at 6:08 a.m.
ROCKLAND, Maine — Even if the driver in the fatal Port Clyde wharf accident last August had been speeding and driving erratically on U.S. Route 1 earlier that day, it would not be enough evidence to levy criminal charges against her, according to the Knox County District Attorney.
Geoffrey Rushlau held an informal press conference Friday afternoon outside his office at the Knox County Courthouse to answer questions about his decision not to prosecute 61-year-old Cheryl Lynn Torgerson. She was behind the wheel of a 2007 Nissan Infiniti that drove into several vehicles and a building in the Port Clyde ferry terminal area on Aug. 11, striking and killing 9-year-old Dylan Gold of Cohasset, Mass. The crashes also caused serious injuries to Dylan’s mother, Alison Gold, and Jonathan Coggeshall of Port Clyde, as well as causing lesser injuries to Dylan’s 6-year-old brother, Wyatt.
“I guess you could call it a cold case, in a way,” Rushlau said. “Until there’s some reason to look at it again, it won’t be looked at again.”
On Thursday, he released a document giving details from the police investigation and explaining why he concluded there’s insufficient evidence to prosecute her for any criminal offense resulting from her conduct in Port Clyde that summer day.
The New York City woman drove nine hours north from her home on Aug. 11 in her 2007 Infiniti sedan in order to take the 3 p.m. ferry to Monhegan Island. Police received a 911 call complaining about a similar car speeding and driving recklessly in Waldoboro less than an hour before her Infiniti plowed into people and buildings on the wharf.
Rushlau declined to comment Friday on whether the speeding driver was Torgerson, but said that bad driving in Waldoboro had “nothing to do with the decision to prosecute in Port Clyde,” because before the wharf incident, her vehicle had come to a complete halt while she was waiting in the ferry line. He said he did not know how long she had owned the Infiniti, but that she had gotten it serviced the month before and did not act like she was unfamiliar with the car.
According to data recorded from the airbag module in her car, Torgerson had feet on both the brakes and the throttle pedal in the car, which appeared to be an automatic, Rushlau said. Four seconds before the airbag deployed, the brakes were released, but the throttle pedal was 100 percent depressed. At that time, the Infiniti started moving at 4 to 5 miles per hour but quickly increased speed to 31 miles per hour when the airbag was deployed, probably when the car struck the terminal building. The sedan then continued down the wharf, striking Coggeshall, the Golds and a series of parked vehicles.
Dylan died of his injuries a short time later.
Rushlau said Friday that the lack of criminal charges against Torgerson should not be a sign that a civil case against her would be unsuccessful, if one is brought.
“Because it’s a criminal case, we do have to prove criminal negligence rather than fault,” he said. “You have to look at the whole picture. You have to look at it in a totally objective way.”
One thing he learned while investigating the case is that different car manufacturers have different access to their airbag data, and that Maine police had to get one of the few Nissan technicians available in the country to go to the car, when it was impounded, and take the data.
He said that the vehicular homicide case is as “widely publicized” as any he’s heard of or investigated.
“It’s a major event,” Rushlau said. “It’s been horrible for [the victims]. We just hope they’ll be able to rebuild their lives.”
DA Geoffrey Rushlau Refuses to Prosecute Fatal Crash, Protects Commissioner
http://archive.bangordailynews.com/2003/01/08/no-charges-in-fatal-stockton-springs-crash/
No charges in fatal Stockton Springs crash
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This story was published on Jan. 08, 2003 on Page B2 in edition 2 of the Bangor Daily News
BELFAST – The district attorney said Tuesday there are no grounds for bringing charges against Waldo County Commissioner John Hyk for a traffic accident that killed a Stockton Springs woman last July.
District Attorney Geoffrey Rushlau made his finding after reviewing state police reports from the investigating officer and the results of toxicology tests taken after the crash.
“Based on the review, there does not appear to be a basis for criminal prosecution of the surviving driver, Mr. Hyk, for the offense. Neither driver had consumed alcohol and alcohol was not a factor in the collision,” Rushlau said in a statement.
The accident occurred about 1:30 p.m. July 26 at the intersection of Muskrat Road and U.S. Route 1 in Stockton Springs.
Amanda Mailloux, 19, of Stockton Springs was killed when the 1995 Ford Probe she was driving was struck broadside by a 1999 Dodge pickup truck driven by Hyk, 55, of Prospect.
Hyk was traveling north on Route 1 on a downhill grade that passes beneath a railroad overpass. Mailloux had stopped at a stop sign on Muskrat Road, then entered the highway from Hyk’s right when the two vehicles collided. When Hyk attempted to stop, his brakes locked and he was unable to avoid the car. He told a witness that Mailloux was looking directly at him when the vehicles hit.
“It appears the collision occurred primarily because Ms. Mailloux failed to yield to Mr. Hyk’s vehicle upon entering Route 1,” Rushlau said.
Mailloux was dead at the scene. Hyk suffered facial cuts and bruises and treated briefly at a hospital.
Because Hyk’s role as a Waldo County commissioner posed a potential conflict of interest for the county District Attorney’s Office, Rushlau noted that he intended to refer his report to Attorney General Steven Rowe for additional review.
The attorney general’s final determination will be “absolutely independent” of any district attorney’s decision and should be completed within a few weeks, Rushlau said.
“The district attorney will request as prompt a review as possible for the benefit of Ms. Mailloux’s family as well as Mr. Hyk,” Rushlau said.
Contacted Tuesday, Hyk said he had not seen Rushlau’s report and could not comment because the matter remains under investigation.
Rushlau described the state police investigation at “comprehensive and completed within a reasonable time.” He said his office’s review of the case was delayed because of the need to wait for the results of the toxicology tests.
New Hope for Women "Outraged" with DA Rushlau
Domestic violence: Does punishment fit the crime?
Victim advocates at odds with district attorney
By Stephen Betts | Mar 25, 2010
ROCKLAND — Advocates for domestic violence victims say they are concerned about the adequacy of local efforts to prosecute the accused offenders.
The criticism focuses on the use of a process called deferred disposition in which the charges are lowered to lesser offenses if the accused stays out of trouble for a period of time and undergoes counseling. The advocates also are critical of the
lack of use of a domestic violence court that was created in Knox County three years ago in an effort to reduce the number of repeat offenders.
District Attorney Geoffrey Rushlau acknowledged the domestic violence court could be used more often but defended his office's approach to domestic violence cases.
Kathleen Morgan, the executive director of New Hope for Women, said her concerns about the adequacy of prosecution became acute last year when she attended a local forum on domestic violence and a few examples of how domestic violence cases were handled came to her attention.
In one case from January 2009, a 36-year-old woman in Rockland was grabbed from the shower by her male companion. The 34-year-old man beat her in the head and stomach. The man then put his hands around her neck and started to strangle her to the point where she could not breathe, all the time telling her he was going to kill her, according to the police report filed in court.
The woman managed to get away from the man and she fled naked from the house in the middle of what was the coldest night of the year. A neighbor was walking a dog and spotted the woman being chased by the man. When the man saw the neighbor, he fled the scene, and the neighbor brought the woman inside and called police.
The woman was taken to the hospital where she was found to have bruises on her head, face, neck, chest, back, buttocks, arms, knees, legs and ankles. The medical staff also found broken vessels around her eyes that were indicative of prolonged strangulation.
Rushlau said in this case, the victim became uncooperative and the police and District Attorney's Office were unable to contact her as a court date neared. The District Attorney's Office reached a plea agreement with the offender in which he pleaded guilty.
In the agreement, the felony aggravated assault will be dismissed and a misdemeanor assault conviction will result if the offender adheres to a series of conditions imposed on him, including anger management therapy. The offender is scheduled to return to court in June 2011. If he adheres to the terms by June 2011, the man will be sentenced to 364 days in jail. If not, the judge will be free to sentence him to whatever is deemed appropriate on the original aggravated assault charge.
The offender has a previous conviction for assault on an officer.
Morgan said she disagrees strongly with the district attorney's approach in this case. "I was outraged when I learned the details of the case," Morgan said.
She said there is a lot of training available to teach law enforcement how to prosecute cases even when the victim is uncooperative. In this case, she said, there was considerable physical evidence gathered by the sheriff's office specifically linked to the accused as well as statements from the neighbor and from witnesses who had seen the man's behavior toward the woman earlier in the evening.
Morgan said if the neighbor had not been out walking the dog, the case could have become a homicide.
She also criticized the handling of a case from a few years ago when a man was accused of threatening his estranged wife with a gun but the charge was reduced through a deferred disposition to disorderly conduct. In this case, the man held a position of authority in the community.
And the head of New Hope said a third case shows that even when a person is going through deferred disposition and violates the terms, the offender is not held accountable.
In that case, a Warren man, who was 18 years old at the time, was charged with assaulting a woman in 2007 in Warren. In July 2009, he pleaded guilty to one count of domestic violence assault as part of a deferred disposition. The agreement was that if he did not re-offend for the next six months, the charge would be reduced.
A little more than two months after his court hearing to accept the deferred disposition, the man was arrested for a new domestic violence assault charge. In the new case, a woman - who was not the same person as the first victim - claimed that she had gone to her boyfriend's house to take him to work and he was angry about being woken up. As the two were in the car and the woman was driving, the man became angrier and grabbed her by the hair and slammed her head into the door, according to the police report filed in court. She stopped the vehicle and ran from the scene.
That case was later dropped when the witness became unavailable, according to the court records.
In December, the District Attorney's Office agreed to a new deferred disposition for that defendant that will run through December 2010. If he does not re-offend during that period, the domestic violence assault charge will be dismissed and he will be sentenced to 10 days in jail for disorderly conduct.
Morgan criticized these decisions, noting the offender ends up with no record for domestic violence. She said the offender is not held accountable and is not made to admit his behavior.
Court program underused
One program aimed at reducing repeat offenders is the domestic violence court.
The domestic violence courts were started in Maine in 2002. There are now 11 courts in the state that use the program, including 6th District Court in Rockland. The Rockland domestic violence court began in February 2007.
Jody Johnson, the domestic violence coordinator for the state who also administers the federal grant that has helped operate the court program, said there are 12 active cases in the court in Rockland.
The state District Court in Skowhegan has the most active cases with 75. Waterville has 63 active cases, Portland has 59, Biddeford has 48, Springvale has 47, York has 25, and Lewiston has 20. The only two courts that have fewer active cases are Machias and West Bath, which both have eight active cases.
Under the domestic violence court program, people convicted of domestic violence assault are required to meet on a regular basis not only with a probation officer but also with the judge who sentenced them. The judge will monitor the case to make sure the offender is following through on court-ordered conditions such as counseling.
Cases are directed to that program upon the recommendation of the District Attorney's Office although Johnson said a judge could also recommend a case to the system.
"It's not used a lot here," Rushlau said. "We will look into why not that many cases go through the [domestic violence] court."
He said one concern defense attorneys raise in objection to use of the domestic violence court is that defendants will miss more days of work with these meetings with a judge.
"We're doing whatever we can to keep them from coming back," he said.
In terms of acting on cases referred to the District Attorney's Office by police, Rushlau said a decision on how to prosecute depends on the evidence.
"Typically, like any other criminal case, domestic violence cases will rise and fall on the strength of the case," Rushlau said.
He said when there is a strong case, his office ideally would like to go to trial to get a conviction for domestic violence assault but there is no guarantee of a conviction when going to a jury trial.
The assistant district attorneys have significant discretion in cases, he said.
"I can't get involved in every prosecution in all four counties," he said.
Rushlau is the chief prosecutor for Knox, Lincoln, Waldo and Sagadahoc counties.
"I can't get involved in every prosecution in all four counties," he said.
Rushlau is the chief prosecutor for Knox, Lincoln, Waldo and Sagadahoc counties.
He said that if a case goes to a jury and the defendant is acquitted there are no consequences. That is why prosecutors will consider plea agreements. Rushlau said he objects to the phrase "plea deal" and instead "plea agreement" is the more concise phrase. In a plea agreement, both sides back away from their original positions.
Rushlau said the District Attorney's Office and domestic violence prevention groups have shared goals but not shared means to achieve the goals.
He said when domestic violence occurs in front of children, his office will often prosecute, even when the victim wants the case to be dropped, because of the impact that witnessing the offense has on the youngsters.
Rushlau said all the pieces are in place to deal with domestic violence cases but the problem is often communications. He said an improved police database system allows officers to know who is on bail for domestic violence and what their conditions are. If the suspect is stopped by an officer and is in the presence of the victim, police can make an arrest.
The District Attorney's Office will make a reasonable effort to contact both the victim and investigating police officers when a domestic violence case is being considered for a plea agreement. Rushlau said some officers believe that their role ends when the case goes to the prosecution - other than testifying if the case goes to trial - while others want to be kept informed of the developments in the case.
He said there are times when officers get little advanced notice of an upcoming court hearing, which gives them little time to contact the victim in the case.
There are times when victims are reluctant to testify and will avoid contact with police and prosecution. Rushlau said there have been several instances when victims have hired lawyers to speak out for their desire not to testify.
The number of protection from abuse orders filed in Rockland courts has remained steady, ranging from 185 to 213, since 2003.
Statistics maintained by the Maine Attorney General's Office on cases handled by each of the eight prosecutorial districts in Maine show that District 6, which includes the four counties overseen by Rushlau, has a higher rate of convictions for domestic violence cases than the state average.
In 2007, the conviction rate was 82 percent. The statewide average was 71 percent.
Another point of contention by New Hope for Women is the lack of use of the batterer intervention program it operates.
The organization's intervention program for batterers is called "Time for Change" and is certified by the Maine Department of Corrections. During the most recent fiscal year for New Hope, 67 people went through the program.
Natasha Plaisted, who oversees the program, and Morgan said going through the program is more comprehensive than simply being assigned to anger management counseling. The course is once a week for 48 weeks.
The goal is to hold the offenders accountable for their actions and to make them see that what they are doing amounts to oppression of women.
Morgan said in the end, the success of tackling domestic violence in the community takes a coordinated effort from many parties.
"When police, prosecutors, bail commissioners, probation officers, judges and victim services work together to give victims a clear and consistent message that their safety is of primary concern, and give a clear and consistent message to batterers that they will be held accountable to the best of the system's ability, that's when we have a chance of taking significant steps toward ending domestic violence," Morgan said.
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