AUBURN, Maine — In a rare move, Maine police unions representing state troopers and 51 local departments blamed, by name, the judge presiding over Leein Hinkley's court hearings three days before he allegedly went to his ex-girlfriend's house with a gun and tried to break in.
As of Monday evening, police had not released all of the details about what happened next on June 15, but several homes were burned down to the foundation, an unnamed victim was killed in the first home, and police shot and killed Hinkley after exchanging gunfire.
Michael Edes represents both the Maine Fraternal Order of Police and the Maine State Troopers Association in this matter. In a Sunday statement, Edes wrote, "responsibility now squarely falls" on Judge Sarah Churchill after she lowered Hinkley's bail to $1,500 and removed his probation, leading to his freedom.
Hinkley was out early on probation after stabbing a partner and a good Samaritan in 2011. On May 24 of this year, his probation officers tried to convince the court to make Hinkley serve the five years left on his sentence, after allegedly dragging by hand and choking his girlfriend to near unconsciousness.
Officers from units that responded to Saturday's incident asked Edes to speak out.
"They were very frustrated," Edes said in a Monday interview. "This is a case that never should have happened."
Churchill lowered Hinkley's provisions because Hinkley wasn't provided an attorney for his last four court hearings; the judge believing his sixth amendment right to an attorney was violated.
Edes argued it was not an appropriate time to take that protective step for Hinkley.
"You had the district attorney in Androscoggin County begging the judge, 'Do not release this man out into the public. He's a danger,'" Edes explained.
That district attorney, Neil McLean, confirmed his attorneys in the courtroom tried to convince Churchill, not ease Hinkley's probation and bail.
"There are 2,400 cases pending in Androscoggin County," McLean told us on Monday. "You might be able to make this argument for a good deal of those, but Mr. Hinkley did not fall into that category. He was a dangerous human being."
In a lengthy statement, the Maine Judicial Branch said it was "dangerous" to blame the court for what happened, and closed by writing, "Until we have enough defense attorneys available to represent accused people, our system will continue to malfunction."
The tragedy highlighted an issue long exacerbated in Maine: there simply aren't enough public defenders. Zachary Heiden, chief counsel for the ACLU of Maine, has been pushing for more public defenders for years.
"When the system is broken—as ours is, unfortunately, here in Maine—it's not only a threat to what goes on in the courtroom, but it's a threat to the safety of all of our communities," Heiden explained, stepping out of a hearing in Cumberland County Court on Monday.
To make matters more exhausting for all involved, Saturday's deaths and destruction happened in a city still dealing with grief over Maine's worst mass shooting.