Maine: A judge has dismissed two misdemeanor charges against a man in Androscoggin County because he waited 105 days without being appointed a lawyer,

Jun. 14—A judge has dismissed two misdemeanor charges against a man in Androscoggin County because he waited 105 days without being appointed a lawyer, likely becoming the first jurist in Maine to take such action as the number of unrepresented defendants in the state has increased in recent months.

In her decision issued Thursday, District Judge Sarah Churchill lambasted the state for failing to protect the right to counsel enshrined in the Sixth Amendment.

“The remedy chosen by the Court is a serious one and not one chosen lightly but any less significant of a remedy would trivialize the very right that the Court seeks to protect,” Churchill wrote in a 28-page order. “The right to counsel is not trivial and a serious remedy is necessary so the Sixth Amendment does not become a platitude to be theoretically applied in the halls of academia but never to darken the doorstep of a courtroom.”

The order was a striking development in what Maine Supreme Judicial Court Chief Justice Valerie Stanfill has called “a constitutional crisis.” It does not set a precedent that other judges have to follow. But Rob Ruffner, a Portland defense attorney who serves as a lawyer of the day in various county courts, said it could be a guide for lawyers and judges to consider in future cases. He said attorneys across the state have been asking judges to reduce bail conditions or dismiss charges for unrepresented defendants with little success.

“This issue has been before the court, not Judge Churchill, but it has been repeated hundreds of times over the last two to three years,” Ruffner said. “What’s striking is it’s taken so long for any judge to get to this point.”

Jim Billings, executive director of the Maine Commission on Public Defense Services, did not respond to an email or a voicemail about the case late Friday afternoon.

A message and an email to the Androscoggin County District Attorney’s Office after business hours also was not returned. The charges were dismissed without prejudice, which means the prosecutors could charge the defendant again if they so choose.

In November, the Maine Judicial Branch directed judges to meet with jailed defendants within seven days of their initial appearance if they are constitutionally entitled to a lawyer but still haven’t been appointed one. At the time, about 100 people lacked attorneys, roughly 40 of whom were in jail. If a judge doesn’t have an attorney to appoint, then a temporary “lawyer of the day” is allowed to argue for reduced bail conditions or “other matters as necessary.”