MACHIAS, Maine — A district judge ordered the release of three people being held at Washington County Jail on Monday, saying there was no attorney available to represent them.
District Judge David Mitchell dismissed the cases because no "lawyer of the day" to represent those who cannot afford an attorney was available to represent the three in their initial court appearances, the Portland Press Herald reported.
District Attorney Matthew Foster, who represents Washington County, told NEWS CENTER Maine in an email Tuesday that all he received regarding the three releases was an email from a Washington County Courts clerk stating there was no defense attorney available Monday.
"As per Judge Mitchell. We do not have an Attorney of the day for today 11/7/2022 and have not heard back from the Commission, so all in custody are to be released," the clerk's email sent Monday said.
"The most frightening part of this is that arguably, all of the prisoners from yesterday posed a threat to public safety and/or a specific alleged victim and none of them were placed on bail conditions," Foster said.
Foster said his office filed a motion to revoke bail for at least one of the dismissed cases and asked for a warrant, but it did not prevent the release of any of the three people on Mitchell's order.
The Portland Press Herald reported the three people were booked over the weekend and were unable to post bail.
Foster, however, said that after reaching out to the Maine Commission on Indigent Legal Services (MCILS), he learned there was a defense attorney available on Monday but they were not available to appear in court until 2 p.m. Typically, initial appearances of those in custody occur around 1 p.m., he said.
"I was told that the MCILS did not hear back from the court regarding holding the arraignments at 2 p.m., but that the judge simply ordered the release of the prisoners without having an appearance in court," Foster told NEWS CENTER Maine. "You will note that the court clerk sent the email ordering the prisoners to be released at 9:26 a.m., 3-and-a-half hours prior to the usual appearance time."
However, MCILS Executive Director Justin Andrus told NEWS CENTER Maine on Wednesday that what actually happened was a clerical error and a case of miscommunication.
Since the court is responsible for booking a "lawyer of the day," Andrus said the court reached out to MCILS on Oct. 21 looking for an attorney to fill the court appearance dates for Monday.
MCILS responded to the court's email sent on Oct. 21 and did not receive a response. MCILS then sent a follow-up email to the court on Oct. 25 asking for an update to see if coverage was still needed or if the position had been filled.
Andrus said MCILS didn't hear from the court until Monday, the day of the initial court appearances for the three released. MCILS immediately engaged to find an available attorney and the first to say they were available would have had to start at 2 p.m. instead of 1 p.m.
"We were then starting the process of reaching out more generally to see if there was somebody, and before we completed that process, we learned that people had already been released," Andrus said. "So, before we started to find an attorney last minute, they were already released."
The Portland Press Herald reported MCILS declared a crisis due to a lack of attorneys, and that by the end of September of this year, the agency only had around 165 active attorneys compared to 280 in January. The commission reportedly asked the state of Maine to immediately increase the pay for attorneys to help alleviate the crisis, according to the Press Herald.
The three people released from jail on Monday were Christine Boyd-Waxer, Bradley Thompson, and Jacob Elliot, according to Foster.
Boyd-Waxer was charged on Nov. 4 in Jonesboro for violation of a protective order and violation of conditions of release. Additionally, she was held for leaving the scene of a motor vehicle crash and driving to endanger, Maine Dept. of Public Safety spokesperson Shannon Moss said in an email.
Thompson was charged on Nov. 5 in Jonesboro for possession of Schedule Y drugs, violation of conditions of release, operating under suspension, and operating under the influence.
On Nov. 6 in Lubec, Elliot was arrested on charges of harassment, terrorizing, and violation of conditions of release.
"This situation is really unacceptable and demonstrates how desperate the lack of resources is in Downeast Maine," Foster said. "If it is so difficult to get a defense attorney to cover basic functions like prisoner arraignments and the court throws up its hands and says, 'Oh well,' the system will grind to a halt and public safety will suffer severely. This situation should not have happened."
"This is just an interruption in communication," Andrus said. "Nothing more significant here, and we appreciate where the court was coming from. ... They thought they didn't have somebody, and they did what they thought they needed to do to protect the clients."