The main reason the justice system is failing - the lack of jury trials

From a story at the Portland Press Herald, titled The Maine Supreme Court asks large law firms to help with Public Defender Services. For the most part, they haven't. 

Peter Murray, a Portland-based attorney, has practiced law for 55 years. When he started as a trial lawyer, he took criminal cases even though it wasn’t his specialty. Other trial lawyers would do the same. But handling criminal cases has become “infinitely more complex in the last 50 years,” he said. Part of the reason is the numerous types of charges in a single case, Murray said. But the primary reason is cases rarely go to trial anymore. They end in plea bargains, meaning much of the criminal defense work is done outside a courtroom.

Deceased judge's chambers used for sex crimes after hours

In case you haven't heard, you can read the New York Times story Kentucky Sheriff Arrested in Shooting Death of Judge. I can't remember if I subscribe to the paper, so if you can't read it, I'm sure you'll find stories about it elsewhere.

I know I don't have a subscription to the Louisville Courier Journal so you should be able to read the following: Suit alleges Kentucky deputy forced woman to have sex in judge's chamber in lieu of fees. The story tells about abuse going on in the judge's chambers, probably without his knowledge. Two women filed a lawsuit in 2022; one has since died, apparently of an overdose.

“Plaintiff was coerced and compelled to comply with defendant Fields’ advances” given his “position and power and because she could not afford to pay for the ankle monitor and did not want to return to Letcher County Jail,” the suit says.  

From a January 10, 2024 story at The Mountain Eagle titled Ex-deputy sheriff is sentenced; one victim tells of 'nightmares' 

Fields pleaded guilty to third-degree rape, third-degree sodomy, two counts of tampering with a prisoner monitoring device and second degree perjury. The three charges related to the second woman were dismissed because she is now dead, but the civil case is continuing with her estate as plaintiff along with Adkins.

Fields will serve six months in jail and is required to register as a sex offender and complete outpatient sex offender treatment.

Ben Fields only had to serve 6 months of his sentence. Sabrina Adkins is the surviving defendant, and here's the PDF of that civil case filed 2.5 years ago, and the sheriff is named as a defendant. 

I also found this story from an NBC News story in 2018, but I don't know if it's the same man: South Carolina Deputy Ben Fields Fired After Body Slamming Student: Sheriff

The school resource officer who was caught on camera violently flipping a South Carolina high school student at her desk has been fired, authorities announced Wednesday.

Wells Maine man settles lawsuit, gets $385,000

From the Portland Press story, Lawsuit, settlement for Taser use at York jail cost nearly $800,000:

When Dunnigan sued in October 2019, he alleged that while he was at the jail, Daigneault kneeled on his chest and pressed his Taser to him for almost one minute while Cram and another officer held him down, his head bouncing against the cement floor.

Brian Dunnigan's lawyers received even more than he did, $415,000! In March of 2023 some defendants were dismissed from the case. Here's the motion granting it, and explaining what happened to Dunnigan in 2018 after he was arrested for disorderly conduct, resisting arrest, and criminal mischief at a bar in Ogunquit...charges that were later dropped. 

If Dunnigan hadn't filed the lawsuit, the charges probably wouldn't have been dropped, and he would've been jailed and/or fined. I'm wondering how he was able to pay the lawyers. Very few cases are taken on contingency, except for those that are so shocking, and in which lawyers expect a huge award when they win. 

About jury duty and disparity in sentencing

Judge Mullen was the Maine judge who gave Eric Tankerley a lenient sentence. I googled his name. Here's a story at the Press Herald regarding his frustration with jurors not showing up for jury duty, or calling in or writing to explain why.  

My son, Shane, was chosen for jury duty; however he couldn't show up because he's in prison! In Maine, prisoners can vote...so should they be allowed to be jurors? If you're supposed to be judged by a jury of your peers, and you've been incarcerated for so long that fellow inmates are your peers, doesn't that qualify them to be on the jury?

While I was reading about Mullen, I saw a story from yesterday. Compare the Sangerville woman's 3 year sentence to Eric Tankerley's 30 day one...which I blogged about earlier today. The disparity in sentencing is another problem in our justice system which doesn't often get much attention. 

 

Is intoxication a defense? Tankerley case, Francis Griffin and Jabar's broken promise

Two of Eric Tankerley's female friends were killed in the crash. From the story Moscow man to spend 30 days in jail for role in deadly 2022 car crash:

Tankerley had been indicted by a grand jury last year on two counts of manslaughter, two counts of aggravated criminal operating under the influence, and single counts of criminal speed and driving to endanger.

I have to wonder if this man has ties to someone in a position of power. I can't determine if Tankerley was appointed an attorney. It was Deputy District Attorney Francis Griffin who got him the sweetheart deal, approved by Justice Robert Mullen. Why would Mullen approve such a lenient sentence?

Griffin made a motion Monday to dismiss the first six counts and move ahead with a sentence based on Tankerley’s plea, which Superior Court Justice Robert Mullen allowed.

Many people are being killed by automobiles which are operated by people who are intoxicated, or for whatever reason are driving dangerously. Their licenses should be suspended until they're rehabilitated. 

At the website for the Maine Department of Corrections, I found Tankerley. All you need is a person's name and at you can find out if they're incarcerated and when they are expected to be released at Adult Resident/Adult Community Corrections Client Search. 

I thought I'd try to find out more about the prosecutor, and found another story at the CentralMaine website: "'Staggering' departures at Kennebec-Somerset region district attorney's office." The story is from 2012, 13 years ago, and I did discover who Griffin has a tie to:

On Thursday afternoon, Griffin took the oath of office, which was administered by his uncle, Maine Supreme Judicial Court Associate Justice Joseph M. Jabar.

And what kind of judge is or was Jabar? There's more information about Jabar in a recent story at MaineWire, in January of 2024: BREAKING: Mills to Send Moderate Maine Supreme Court Justice Jabar Packing. 

Gov. Janet Mills (D) will not be reappointing Justice Joseph M. Jabar, a longtime Maine jurist who has served in the Maine judiciary under Govs. Angus King (I), John Baldacci (D), and Paul LePage (R), according to three sources familiar with the matter.

Governor LePage reappointed Jabar after Jabar asked him to, so that he could reach 20 years of service, giving him a better retirement package. You can access the letter from that story, and from this one at NewsCenterMaine titled:Governor says Supreme Court justice is ignoring promise to retire. 

Here's a direct link to LePage's letter to the justices of the Maine Supreme Court, on 2-13-2018. 

Should we change the law to make the removal of judges easier, including those in the Supreme Court of the United States who overturn pivotal cases such as Roe v. Wade?   

Lies by Maine State Corporal Ted Martin

The entire justice system needs an overhaul! And officer misconduct is part of the problem that needs to be addressed. 

Maine Corporal Ted Martin, I'm sure has done some good so far during his brief time with Maine State Police, but his arrest of me on July 10, 2024 was definitely wrong...and he has since lied in the police report. This photo is of page 3 of 4 of the July 8 police incident report. In it Martin states that I was intoxicated! 

Nearly an entire sentence is redacted from the report; and someone made a note at the bottom of the page recommending this case be closed as not a crime...so why is the State of Maine prosecuting me? Because if they drop the case it's an admission that there was no probable cause to arrest, and that will give a civil rights case more validity and strength. 

Police misconduct is happening in all states. It was not the first, second, or third time that the officer who arrested Tyreek Hill acted inappropriately. Yet, the story says Officer Danny Torres received an "award for professionalism in May 2023." 

According to the records, the officer was accused of misconduct, force violations, and improper procedures. He was also reportedly investigated for using force at least 13 times during his service.

I just added a tab at the top of my page, regarding LAS and Karin Huffer who passed away in 2018. Also added a tab for Equal Access Advocates (EAA). There are some good videos there, one explaining about PTSD. 

How many people in the United States suffer from LAS and don't even realize it? Could it be our broken justice system is to blame for much of the violence in America?

Huffer discovered that many of the legal system's victims suffer from a variant of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, which she has termed "Legal Abuse Syndrome." The condition derives from the abusive and protracted litigation that many plaintiffs commonly encounter in the courts.