Oversight / Lewiston mass shooting

Who was Robert Card? Confirmed details on Maine gunman

Governor Mills established an Independent Commission to investigate the Lewiston mass shooting (ICL) last fall after there were apparent failures by law enforcement and other individuals who may have held the key to prevention. 

The ability to hold judges, lawyers, law enforcement officers, and other government employees accountable is relevant to the investigation, and to the work the public expects of the Commission. Unfortuantely, when oversight exists investigations are often self-policed by individuals who have close ties to those who are being complained about. 

The Commission held its first public hearing on November 20, 2023 and I attended. The meetings were recorded and are available at the Maine government webpage for the Commission. I got the opportunity to speak, and took it, at around 10:35 a.m.  

The Commission is chaired by Daniel Wathen, a former chief justice of the Maine Supreme Judicial Court. Wathen is from Aroostook County, like me. There is a decision that I read about several years ago, and which I did not agree with Wathen on. 

It's the 1998 Maine Supreme Court case Kingsbury v. Forbes, which got there after it was dismissed in superior court. The dissent (disagreement) in the case was written by Justice Dana, with justices Roberts and Clifford agreeing with him. Daniel Wathen, chair of the Commission, was then the chief justice and in the majority:  

Kingsbury v. Forbes (1998)

[¶ 11] A pro se party who has complied with the requirements of the rules and reasonably has placed the responsibility for the next step in the proceedings in the hands of the court, in my opinion, has demonstrated the good cause necessary to prevent dismissal pursuant to M.R.Civ.P. 41(b). Holding pro se litigants involved in small claims actions to the technical requirements of Rule 41(b) in circumstances where the court system has failed to fulfill its own responsibilities defeats the goal of providing a litigant-friendly procedure to resolve small claims disputes. I would therefore vacate the judgment of the Superior Court. 

And here's something regarding Rushlau: Former Lincoln County Employee Settles Sexual Harassment Lawsuit. According to the Bangor Daily News story, Chastity Krah was a victim witness advocate who in 2016 sued multiple individuals including Geoffrey Rushlau, who was then District Attorney for four Maine counties. 

Rushlau forced her to resign in December 2014 under false and misleading pretenses

Between the time the lawsuit was filed and settlements were reached, then-governor Paul LePage appointed Rushlau to the District Court in Wiscasset...where I had to defend myself in May of 2022 against false claims of harassment (WISDC-PA-2022-00071) by my son's ex-girlfriend; and Rushlau granted a her a protection order. Pete and I have been denied contact with our grandsons for almost three years now. Mediation was waived in Shane's family matters case, also in Lincoln Count; and he has been incarcerated since November of 2022. 

And Commission member Ellen Gorman...in Androscoggin County court, she granted summary judgment to doctors in a medical malpractice case. Medical professionals at Blue Hill Memorial Hospital, in February of 2000, treated my son Aaron's broken arm for dislocation. They could not see the fracture in the xray. Their attempts displaced the fracture requiring surgery...pinning of the humerous. 

I read Gorman's biography then, but no longer have the link to it. She was in bed with a doctor at the time! He was not one of the doctors in the lawsuit, but it could be considered a conflict; the company that provided liability insurance to medical professionals stated at their website that a portion of premiums paid in would get returned in good years, such as when not many plaintiffs get compensated for medical errors...or what they prefer to call "sentinel events."