IN ANSON, Sunday at 10:09 p.m., theft was reported on Valley Road.

IN CHESTERVILLE, Sunday at 2:03 p.m., harassment was reported on Zions Hill Road.

IN FAIRFIELD, Sunday at 4:51 p.m., a disturbance was reported on Main Street.

9:24 p.m., suspicious activity was reported on Mountain Avenue.

IN FARMINGTON, Sunday at 12:37 p.m., theft was reported on Wilton Road.

12:40 p.m., vandalism was reported on Academy Street.

2:11 p.m., suspicious activity was reported on Temple Road.

5:57 p.m., theft was reported on Main Street.

10:15 p.m., a disturbance was reported on Scott South 210 at University of Maine Farmington.

IN HARTLAND, Sunday at 6:15 p.m., a structure fire was reported on Pleasant Street.

9:35 p.m., an assault was reported on Main Street.

IN JAY, Sunday at 12:53 p.m., a burglary was reported on Intervale Road.

Monday at 1:24 a.m., a disturbance was reported on Main Street.

IN MADISON, Sunday at 10:49 a.m., a domestic disturbance was reported on Lakewood Road.

10:58 a.m., trespassing was reported on Nichols Street.

Monday at 12:42 a.m., theft was reported on Hidden Acres Drive.

IN MOSCOW, Sunday at 3:30 p.m., mischief was reported on Mayfield Road.

IN NORRIDGEWOCK, Sunday at 4:03 p.m., mischief was reported on Walnut Drive.

IN PHILLIPS, Sunday at 10:05 p.m., suspicious activity was reported on Salem Road.

IN SKOWHEGAN, Sunday at 12:23 p.m., a disturbance was reported on Turner Avenue.

3:19 p.m., a hazmat issue was reported on Russell Road.

4:41 p.m., a disturbance was reported on Waterville Road.

5:52 p.m., suspicious activity was reported on Middle Road.

6:45 p.m., threatening was reported on Mount Pleasant Avenue.

Monday at 7:13 a.m., theft was reported on Waterville Road.

7:24 a.m., a vehicle fire was reported on Waterville Road.

IN WATERVILLE, Sunday at 9:16 p.m., a domestic dispute was reported on College Avenue.

ARRESTS

IN FRANKLIN COUNTY, Sunday, Erica Couture, 33, of Strong, was arrested on a charge of driving under the influence.

Christopher Chase, 43, of Wilton, was arrested on a charge of driving under the influence.

IN SOMERSET COUNTY, Sunday at 11:13 a.m., Zackary Ty Strout, 18, of Madison, was arrested on two charges of domestic violence terrorizing.

8:32 p.m., Joseph George Grenier, 31, of Winslow, was arrested on a warrant.

Monday at 1:02 a.m., Austin Lee Norris, 20, of Hartland, was arrested on a charge of domestic violence assault.

2:06 a.m., Dasha Marie Rodriguez, 18, of Corinna, was arrested on charges of domestic violence assault and burglary.

IN WATERVILLE, Sunday at 6:23 p.m., Daniel Douglas Cram, 34, of Waterville, was arrested on a warrant.

A Massachusetts man was sentenced Monday to more than 15 years in prison for conspiring to distribute more than 100 grams of heroin, fentanyl and cocaine hydrochloride.

U.S. District Court Judge D. Brock Hornby sentenced 35-year-old Anibal Orsini, of Lawrence, Massachusetts, to 188 months in prison with five years of supervised release, according to a statement from U.S. Attorney Halsey B. Frank.

Orsini distributed heroin and other drugs to others who brought them to Maine between October 2014 and August 2016, court records say.

Three Maine heroin dealers, who acquired drugs from Orsini, were arrested as they returned to Maine from Massachusetts sometime between January and July 2015. Undercover officers also purchased drugs from Orsini and his accomplices. Orsini pleaded guilty to the charges on March 28, 2017.

Officers from the Ogunquit Police Department and the Maine Drug Enforcement Agency participated in the investigation.

Dennis Hoey can be contacted at 791-6365 or at:

dhoey@pressherald.com

A second key witness who testified in the original murder trial of Anthony H. Sanborn Jr. recanted his testimony in court Tuesday.

Glenn A. Brown Jr. of Biddeford told the court that he lied during the 1992 trial when he testified that he saw Sanborn the night before the murder with a knife, that Sanborn was upset and that he was looking for Jessica L. Briggs, the 16-year-old victim and Sanborn’s ex-girlfriend.

Brown, 47, said Tuesday that he lied in the trial because he was nervous around the police and afraid of going back to jail.

But under cross-examination from Assistant Attorney General Paul Rucha, Brown’s recollections seemed to show inconsistencies. For instance, he said he recalled being threatened by then-Assistant Attorney General Pamela Ames, who prosecuted the murder case, but could not remember when the meeting took place.

Brown also said some aspects of what he told police roughly 27 years ago were true, that he could not remember much now about what he told them, and that his memory when he originally spoke to police was better.

Sanborn, now 45, is trying to clear his name by challenging his 1992 conviction. He has claimed that police and prosecutors colluded to withhold evidence and coerce witnesses into testifying against him.

Both Briggs and Sanborn were 16 years old and living on the streets when Briggs was stabbed and slashed to death on the Maine State Pier. Her body was found May 24, 1989, dumped nearby in Portland Harbor. Sanborn quickly became a prime suspect, and was arrested in 1990.

Brown was 19 at the time of the murder and worked as a dishwasher at DiMillo’s floating restaurant, where Briggs also worked busing tables, and was among the street kids who hung around the Portland waterfront. The group included Sanborn and Briggs.

STATEMENT SIGNATURES, STORY CHANGES

Now tan with short brown hair and a goatee, Brown gave his answers Tuesday in a voice so low he was frequently asked to repeat himself for attorneys or the judge.

During nearly three hours of testimony, Brown said Portland police detectives picked him up three or four times after the murder from his home in Kennedy Park on Anderson Street to question him, and that he couldn’t read or write at the time.

Under questioning Tuesday from Timothy Zerillo, one of Sanborn’s attorneys, Brown affirmed that his original police statement was read to him by a detective.

A written version of his statement to police bore the legible but shaky signature “Glenn A. Brown Jr.,” but Brown said he did not sign the document, does not use the “Jr.” in his signature, and that his signature has not changed over the years.

An affidavit that Brown signed in June 2016 when he previously recanted his testimony showed a different, illegible signature.

Brown also told police – and testified at trial – that he saw Sanborn and Briggs together at Peppermint Park in Portland about three nights before Briggs was killed, and that they seemed happy. Also among the group hanging out on a low stone wall that night was Hope Cady, Brown testified at trial.

Cady was the only eyewitness in the case, testifying at trial that she saw Sanborn kill Briggs on the state pier. In April, Cady recanted her original trial testimony, saying police instructed her how to testify and threatened to jail her if she did not go along with their version of events. She said she was not even on the pier that night.

Cady, who was 13 at the time of Briggs’ murder, also was legally blind when she claimed to have seen Sanborn commit the crime at the end of a dimly lit pier.

Brown said Tuesday that none of the events he testified to during the trial happened, and that he had never met Cady until a chance encounter at the funeral of a mutual friend in Florida. He had not met her in 1989 during his teenage years in Portland, he said.

Justice Joyce Wheeler, who is overseeing Sanborn’s post-conviction review, explained to Brown before he testified Tuesday that he had a constitutional right to remain silent and that he could face charges of perjury if he recanted his original statement.

“I’m all set,” Brown replied.

An attorney, Merit T. Heminway, was on stand-by in case Brown decided to invoke his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination.

Brown had said in an affidavit submitted during Sanborn’s bail hearing in April that he lied years ago about Sanborn’s movements around the time of the murder, under pressure from police and a prosecutor.

Brown said in the affidavit that the statement he gave to police was “99 percent false,” including an allegation that he saw scratch marks on Sanborn’s face a few days after the murder. Brown said he couldn’t read or write at the time he was interviewed by police, so he couldn’t have read over the typed statement or signed it.

“Before I testified in court I was told by (former prosecutor and assistant Maine Attorney General) Pam Ames if I didn’t testify to the written statement, I would be charged with a crime,” so he lied on the stand, Brown said in his affidavit.

SPOTTY RECOLLECTIONS IN TESTIMONY

During cross-examination Tuesday by Rucha, Brown said he did not write the affidavit – a private investigator for the defense team did – and that he checked over each line and paragraph after the dictation was complete.

“Did they tell you what to write?” Rucha asked.

“I told them what to write,” Brown said.

His recantation followed several days of testimony from the two Portland police detectives who investigated the murder.

Clear, independent recollections by police witnesses – of who said what, when and to whom – have been rare so far in the hearing. Detectives Daniel Young and James Daniels, the lead investigator in the case, have both relied heavily on contemporaneous notes, reports and other documents to refresh their memories.

Amy Fairfield, Sanborn’s attorney, has repeatedly drawn attention to discrepancies between the detectives’ handwritten notes and their trial testimony. She has offered nearly 100 exhibits, ranging from pink “while you were out” phone message slips to typed documents to pages of handwritten notes photocopied from flip-top pads. Some documents contain the handwriting of more than one detective, meaning each would have to testify about the relevant portions.

The testimony is painstaking, and attorneys on both sides are grappling with thousands of pages of documents.

Prosecutors at Sanborn’s original trial relied on a few key witnesses to establish Sanborn’s guilt, including Brown and Cady.

Another was Gerard Rossi, Sanborn’s friend and adult roommate, who testified that Sanborn confessed to him three times in increasing detail to killing Briggs.

Sanborn’s attorneys now contend that Rossi was wanted for sexually assaulting a young girl, that police knew it, and that they used the information and potential criminal charges to leverage Rossi to implicate Sanborn.

Prior testimony from Daniels and Young showed that police had obtained photographs of Rossi with a girl who was under age 14 engaged in sexual acts in Augusta. Who took those pictures – Sanborn or someone else – is disputed.

Matt Byrne can be contacted at 791-6303 or at:

mbyrne@pressherald.com

Twitter: MattByrnePPH

Lawyers for a Portland landlord who was convicted of code violations following a November 2014 fire that killed six people have dropped out of his appeal.

Gregory Nisbet, who was acquitted last year of six counts of manslaughter but found guilty on lesser charges, had sought a new trial in Cumberland County Superior Court. A judge rejected that motion this summer, however, and Nisbet appealed to the Maine Supreme Judicial Court.

The high court had yet to schedule oral arguments on that appeal before Nisbet’s attorneys, Matthew Nichols and Sarah Churchill, asked to be removed from the case last month because they were not being paid. Justice Ellen Gorman granted the lawyers’ request in a written order filed last week.

“The court required Attorney Nichols to personally serve Nisbet with the motion and gave Nisbet an opportunity to respond. In the opposition Nisbet filed, he confirmed that he has not paid any fees to his attorneys for this appeal,” the order read. “For reasons that are not clear, Nisbet has not (yet) requested that he be assigned counsel.”

The appeal remains open. Nisbet, or his new attorney, must file a brief before Nov. 10.

Nisbet was the owner of an apartment building at 20 Noyes Street, which caught fire in the early morning hours of Nov. 1, 2014, trapping six people inside. It was the deadliest fire in Portland in four decades.

The victims were Nicole “Nikki” Finlay, 26; David Bragdon Jr., 27; Ashley Thomas, 29; Maelisha Jackson, 23, of Topsham; Steven Summers, 29, of Rockland; and Christopher Conlee, 25, of Portland. Bradgon, Finlay and Thomas were tenants, and Jackson, Summers and Conlee were visiting the house for a Halloween party.

The blaze started on the front porch in a plastic receptacle for cigarette butts and spread quickly, investigators said. There were no working smoke detectors and flames blocked a stairwell that might have allowed occupants to escape.

Nisbet was charged with manslaughter for each death but a superior court justice ruled that although the landlord had failed to maintain the building and inspect the smoke detectors, the state hadn’t proved beyond a reasonable doubt that the victims would have survived if not for Nisbet’s failure to take those steps.

During his appeal for a new trial, Nisbet’s attorney argued that the state did not disclose a memo from the state Fire Marshal’s Office regarding concessions for buildings built before 1976. It’s believed that the Noyes Street apartment building was built in the 1920s. That memo had said some allowances were made for older buildings, but windows still had to meet minimum size standards to be considered secondary exits – and the windows on the third floor of the Noyes Street building didn’t meet those minimum dimensions and were too small for someone to climb out.

After the fire, the city set up a new Housing Safety Office, hired more inspectors and required landlords to register their units and pay an annual fee. Nisbet’s trial was closely watched in the community and was seen as a warning for other landlords.

Nisbet was sentenced to three months in jail on the code violation – an unprecedented sentence, his lawyers argued – but has yet to serve pending the appeals.

Families for the victims have all filed wrongful death lawsuits against Nisbet seeking damages.

Eric Russell can be contacted at 791-6344 or at:

erussell@pressherald.com

Twitter: PPHEricRussell

AUGUSTA

Monday at 8:20 a.m., a well-being check was performed on Gannett Street.

9:08 a.m., a mental health and well-being check was performed on Ward Road.

11:00 a.m., an attempt to locate was performed at locations around the city.

1:14 p.m., a past burglary was reported on Boothby Street.

1:33 p.m., a well-being check was performed on Western Avenue.

2:07 p.m., property was recovered on Cony Street.

3:27 p.m., a traffic hazard was reported on Stone and East Chestnut streets.

3:44 p.m., a mental health and well-being check was performed on Bennett Street.

4:16 p.m., a traffic hazard was reported on State Street.

4:27 p.m., a 36-year-old Augusta woman was issued a summons on having dogs at large, after an investigation was performed on Murray Street.

4:46 p.m., suspicious activity was reported on Mount Vernon Avenue.

5:05 p.m., a 47-year-old Augusta woman was issued a summons on a charge of theft of services, after theft was reported on Western Avenue.

5:28 p.m., criminal trespassing was reported on Whitten Road.

7:05 p.m., property was recovered on Union Street.

7:32 p.m., suspicious activity was reported on Green Street.

7:56 p.m., suspicious activity was reported on Green Street.

10:03 p.m., a traffic hazard was reported on Western Avenue.

10:08 p.m., suspicious activity was reported on Cony Circle.

Tuesday at 5:13 a.m., suspicious activity was reported on Howard Street.

GARDINER

Oct. 11 at an unspecified time, a 48-year-old Rome man was issued a summons on a charge of felony theft by unauthorized taking, for an incident that happened in May in Edgecomb.

Monday at 11 a.m., criminal mischief was reported on Gudrun Drive.

HALLOWELL

Monday at 8:45 p.m., a disturbance was reported on Water Street.

9:45 p.m., a domestic disturbance was reported on Second Street.

MONMOUTH

Monday at 3:54 p.m., harassment was reported on Berry Road.

RANDOLPH

Monday at 4:37 p.m., harassment was reported on Elm Street.

WINTHROP

Monday at 7:28 a.m., harassment was reported on Metcalf Road.

ARRESTS

AUGUSTA

Monday at 1:49 p.m., Nathan C. Poland, 36, of Rockland, was arrested on a warrant after a traffic complaint was made on Eastern Avenue.

8:39 p.m., a 15-year-old juvenile was arrested on a charge of unauthorized use of property after an investigation was performed on Union Street.

PITTSTON

Monday at 4:36 p.m., Bruce Allen Thornton, 39, of Farmingdale, was arrested on a charge of violating conditions of release, on Webb Road.

FARMINGTON — A full-time police officer at the University of Maine at Farmington was placed on paid administrative leave Monday after his arrest on a charge of operating under the influence.

Christopher M. Chase, 43, of Wilton, was arrested Sunday by Farmington police Officer Michael Lyman during a traffic stop on Wilton Road, according to Shane Cote, deputy police chief.

Chase was not on duty at the time of his arrest but was placed on administrative leave with pay, pending further investigation, Livermore Falls police Chief Ernest Steward Jr. said Monday.

Steward is the part-time director of public safety and chief of police at UMF during director Brock Caton’s deployment to Afghanistan.

Chase faced a similar charge, a class D misdemeanor, in November 2008, when a Wilton police officer stopped him for a traffic infraction. At that time, he was a deputy for the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office and was also off-duty. He was placed on paid administrative leave after his arrest on a charge of drunken driving.

Chase was released Monday from the Franklin County jail in Farmington on $310 cash bail in connection with his latest arrest, according to a detention center officer.

Two other people were arrested and charged with operating under the influence over the weekend, Cote said. Those were routine patrol traffic stops and not part of a police detail seeking drivers under the influence, he said.

Old Orchard Beach K-9 Gunther was remembered in a post on the department’s Facebook page Tuesday after he died from a sudden medical issue.

The German shepherd, who was handled by Officer Christopher St. Pierre, served the department for a numbers of years and also offered his talents to other southern Maine law enforcement agencies.

Just a few hours after the post went up, it had already been shared more than 100 times.

IN CANAAN, Monday at 12:25 p.m., trespassing was reported on Main Street.

IN FAIRFIELD, Monday at 1:43 p.m., vandalism was reported on Savage Street.

3:48 p.m., suspicious activity was reported on Main Street.

4:06 p.m., a structure fire was reported on High Street.

4:29 p.m., suspicious activity was reported on Middle Road.

8:07 p.m., a domestic disturbance was reported on Main Street.

8:21 p.m., a domestic disturbance was reported on Winter Street.

9:19 p.m., suspicious activity was reported on Bates Drive.

11:23 p.m., threatening was reported on Summit Street.

Tuesday at 1:19 a.m., trespassing was reported on Summit Street.

IN JACKMAN, Monday at 2:58 p.m., theft was reported on Main Street.

IN MADISON, Monday at 10:44 a.m., mischief was reported on Ash Street.

IN NEW PORTLAND, Monday at 5:16 p.m., a brush fire was reported on Carrabassett Road.

IN OAKLAND, Monday at 6:57 p.m., theft was reported at Messalonskee High School.

Tuesday at 5:58 a.m., a domestic dispute was reported on Pleasant Street.

IN SKOWHEGAN, Monday at 9:09 a.m., vandalism was reported on Cross Street.

5:23 p.m., trespassing was reported on Madison Avenue.

8:23 p.m., theft was reported on Madison Avenue.

9:04 p.m., a disturbance was reported on Milburn Street.

Tuesday at 2:27 a.m., trespassing was reported on Fairview Avenue.

8:15 a.m., an assault was reported on Waterville Road.

8:16 a.m., vandalism was reported on Main Street.

IN WATERVILLE, Monday at 6:46 a.m., a disturbance was reported on Main Street.

10:56 a.m., an unwanted person was reported on Silver Street.

12:08 p.m., a report of shoplifting led to an arrest at Marden’s Surplus & Salvage on Kennedy Memorial Drive.

1:18 p.m., harassment was reported on Western Avenue.

1:25 p.m., harassment was reported on Veteran Court.

1:36 p.m., suspicious activity was reported on Summer Street.

1:44 p.m., theft was reported at Domino’s Pizza on Elm Street.

2:24 p.m., theft was reported at Head of Falls.

2:43 p.m., harassment was reported on Water Street.

2:47 p.m., theft was reported on Alden Street.

3:41 p.m., suspicious activity was reported on Mitchell Road.

3:42 p.m., shoplifting was reported at the Hannaford supermarket in JFK Plaza.

3:56 p.m., suspicious activity was reported on Franklin Street.

4:14 p.m., an unwanted person was reported on Water Street.

4:14 p.m., a drug offense was reported on College Avenue.

4:30 p.m., suspicious activity was reported on North Street.

5:01 p.m., a burglary was reported on Wilkes Street.

5:15 p.m., criminal trespassing was reported on Water Street.

5:55 p.m., a report of a burglary led to an arrest on Gray Street.

6:45 p.m., an unwanted person was reported on Spruce Street.

7:18 p.m., criminal mischief was reported on West River Road.

9:07 p.m., an assault was reported on Pleasant Street.

10:10 p.m., a burglary was reported on Elm Street.

Tuesday at 12:14 a.m., suspicious activity was reported on Chase Avenue.

IN WINSLOW, Tuesday at 1:42 a.m., a report of suspicious activity led to an arrest on China Road.

ARRESTS

IN FRANKLIN COUNTY, Monday, Christina Gilputbick, 27, of Jay, was arrested on a charge of driving after a suspension.

IN SOMERSET COUNTY, Monday at 10:01 p.m., Katherine Anne Strysko, 34, of Skowhegan, was arrested on a charge of violating conditions of release.

IN WATERVILLE, Monday at 1:35 p.m., Zachariah Bertrom Mountain, 28, of Waterville, was arrested on a warrant.

6:22 p.m., Shannon P. Estes, 45, of Waterville, was arrested on a charge of violating a protection from abuse order.

7:10 p.m., Daniel Ashley Groover, 43, of Waterville, was arrested on a warrant.

11:23 p.m., Bonny Sue Gilmore, 33, of Augusta, was arrested on charges of failure to provide a correct name and driving after a suspension.

IN WINSLOW, Tuesday at 12:28 a.m., Dede Ann Reynolds-Kasevich, 49, of Augusta, was arrested on a charge of refusing to submit to arrest as well as three warrants.

Tuesday at 2 a.m., Tony James Flidden, 29, of Oakland, was arrested on a warrant.

SUMMONSES

IN WATERVILLE, Monday at 5:09 p.m., Eric D. Dillingham, 47, of Skowhegan, was summoned on a charge of attaching false plates.

IN WINSLOW, Monday at 12:34 p.m., Celynn D. Smyth, 34, of Benton, was summoned on a charge of driving with an expired registration.

A local man has been indicted on federal bank robbery charges in connection with a hold-up last year at Camden National Bank in Manchester.

Clinton Richard Damboise, 41, who has addresses in Belgrade, Chelsea, and Readfield, already had been charged with robbery and theft in state court and has other pending charges, including three burglaries and a felony theft charge.

The federal indictment was handed up Oct. 11 by a grand jury in U.S. District Court in Bangor.

By the next day, Damboise was in custody after being arrested in a hotel in Southington, Connecticut.

And while arrest warrants issued in state court were listed as executed, it appeared that Damboise has been held out of state since then.

He is not yet scheduled for arraignment on the indictment, which accuses him of taking money “by force, violence, and intimidation” from an employee of Camden National Bank, which is insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. A defense attorney had yet to be listed.

The robbery charge carries a penalty of not more than 20 years in prison, a fine of not more than $250,000 or both.

According to an affidavit filed at the Capital Judicial Center in Augusta, a suspect entered the bank at Western Avenue and Pond Road and demanded money. He told a teller, “This is a robbery, not a joke,” gesturing to his waistband and patting his coat, saying he had a gun.

He got $3,179 from the bank and fled in a teal green or blue Mustang.

Detectives from the Kennebec County Sheriff’s Office identified Damboise as a suspect after viewing video footage of the robbery, the affidavit says, and talked to one of his acquaintances in Manchester. That person told them Damboise had stopped by earlier and said he knew police were looking for him and that “he may rob a bank.”

Damboise also faces burglary and theft charges resulting from a series of break-ins from Aug. 28 to 31, 2016, in Rome and Belgrade.

Betty Adams — 621-5631

badams@centralmaine.com

Twitter: @betadams

Justin Murphy

An Old Orchard Beach man was arrested Monday after he allegedly punched and choked his pregnant girlfriend.

Capt. David Hemingway of the Old Orchard Beach Police Department said Justin Murphy, 24, was arrested and charged with elevated aggravated assault on a pregnant person – a Class A felony.

Officers were dispatched to a home in Old Orchard Beach around 6:55 a.m. Monday to investigate the report of a domestic disturbance, police said in a statement Tuesday.

Officers interviewed the 22-year-old victim, who told them that Murphy struck her several times and choked her during an argument before he fled from their home.

A statewide bulletin was issued by Old Orchard Beach police. Murphy was caught in Portland by city police around 9:30 a.m. Monday.

Murphy was transported to the York County Jail, where he was being held without bail Tuesday night. He is scheduled to make a court appearance via video on Wednesday afternoon.

Maine State Police dog Ibo.

The driver of a vehicle involved in a one-car crash in Lebanon was located after a state police dog tracked his whereabouts, according to an Instagram post by state police.

A Maine state trooper responded Tuesday night to a reported crash on West Lebanon Road and discovered the driver had fled the scene on foot.

The police dog, Ibo, was sent to the scene and found the driver, covered in blood, about three-quarters of a mile from the crash, in thick woods.

The driver, a 22-year-old man from Farmington, New Hampshire, had significant injuries from the crash, in which the vehicle went off the road and rolled over.

He was disoriented and intoxicated, according to state police, but was cooperative. He was taken to Maine Medical Center in Portland for treatment of his injuries.

Criminal charges against the driver are pending the results of a blood test.

The crash scene on West Lebanon Road Tuesday night. Lebanon Fire and EMS Facebook photo

Drug arrests in Maine dropped significantly last year, even as the state and nation continued to battle an epidemic of opioid abuse.

In its annual report on Maine crime, the state Department of Public Safety said 5,411 drug arrests were made in 2016, down 9 percent from 5,943 the year before. Drug arrests had increased for three straight years before 2016.

Last year’s decline raises questions because it occurred at the same time that drug-related deaths in the state soared. Also, the state’s drug enforcement agency has received funding for 10 additional agents in the past two years and Gov. Paul LePage has made cracking down on drug dealers a top priority of his administration. His controversial, racially charged remarks about the race of drug dealers came in the wake of a discussion about out-of-state dealers bringing heroin and opiates into Maine.

Roy McKinney, director of the Maine Drug Enforcement Agency, said he can’t explain the drop in arrests, but he hopes it’s because of better policing.

The state Legislature, at LePage’s urging, provided McKinney with more agents in 2015 to look for and arrest drug dealers and manufacturers. McKinney said the MDEA’s focus in recent years has been on shutting down meth labs and trying to catch higher-level dealers who are moving larger amounts of drugs into Maine – like the four men arrested in Sanford in June with nearly 3 pounds of cocaine, heroin and fentanyl. He said that approach might be bearing fruit, increasing 2015 arrests to a level much higher than in other years.

“The goal is not to increase the total number of drug arrests, but to go at it at the level of the dealer,” McKinney said. The 2016 decrease in arrests doesn’t worry him, he said, because agents are still searching out drugs and dealers every day.

LEGAL MARIJUANA MAY BE FACTOR

However, a professor of criminology at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York suggested there could be another reason for the drop in arrests: The state’s recent passage of a referendum to legalize marijuana.

Robert Moskos noted that Maine’s 12 percent drop in marijuana arrests – from 2,795 in 2015 to 2,457 last year – outpaced the overall decrease in drug arrests. He speculated that police in Maine may have made marijuana arrests less of a priority as the state moved toward legalizing recreational pot. Medical marijuana has been legal in Maine for years.

Moskos said the drop in marijuana arrests also might have led to a decline in the number of arrests for more dangerous drugs, including Oxycontin, heroin and fentanyl. Moskos, who was a beat police officer in Baltimore and wrote a book – “Cop in the Hood” – about his experiences before becoming a professor, said it’s not unusual for police to find those stronger, lethal drugs when they arrest someone for marijuana possession. That could account for the drop in both marijuana possession arrests and decreases in arrests for opioids and heroin, he said.

Despite the drop in opioid arrests, police and other officials in Maine say illegal drugs are still the top law enforcement problem in the state. The rate of crimes overall in Maine has declined nearly 40 percent in the past five years.

“Maine is still one of the safest places in the country to live,” said Steve McCausland, spokesman for the Department of Public Safety. “But it doesn’t feel that way” because of drug use, sales and manufacturing in the state.

“We’re getting more calls, we’re working harder and we deal with drugs all the time,” he said.

CRIME OVERALL DOWN IN MAINE

LePage also referenced drug crimes in hailing the decrease in overall crime shown in statistics released Wednesday.

“Maine continues to be one of the safest states in the country. Unfortunately, the flow of deadly drugs from out of state is still driving crime in Maine,” he said in a written statement.

His office did not respond directly to questions about the drop in drug arrests in 2016, even with the additional law enforcement resources that LePage has long advocated.

Nationally, the number of arrests for the sale and manufacture of drugs declined from 194,426 in 2015 to 182,048 in 2016, according to figures from the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Arrests for drug possession rose from 971,121 in 2015 to 1,004,762 last year, and the number of arrests for marijuana possession dipped slightly from 445,265 to 443,454 in 2016.

The state Department of Public Safety said crime rates in seven categories showed decreases last year, although the numbers on crimes in three categories – arson, rape and aggravated assault – increased. Overall, the number of crimes in Maine declined 8.7 percent last year and has dropped 38.6 percent since 2011, the department reported.

The overall crime rate for the state was 18 offenses per 1,000 people. By comparison, the crime rate nationally in 2015 was 29 per 1,000 people. The rate of violent crime in Maine was one offense per 1,000 people, compared with a national rate for violent crime of four per 1,000 people.

In Cumberland County, the crime rate was 19.33 per 1,000 last year, down from 20.31 in 2015. In York County, the crime rate was 18.12 per 1,000 people, down from 20.15 in 2015.

The number of murders in Cumberland County increased from three to six last year, but all other categories of crime were down except for aggravated assault and arson. In York County, murders also increased, from one to two. Rapes, aggravated assaults and arson also increased, while robberies, burglaries, larcenies and motor vehicle thefts declined.

The clearance rate for crimes was 35.6 percent in Cumberland County, up from 33.4 percent the year before. In York County, it was 28.9 percent in 2016, down from 30.4 percent the year before. Clearance rates are based on whether charges are lodged against a suspect who is then taken into custody. The national average clearance rate for 2015 was 22.7 percent.

The statewide homicide rate dropped in 2016 by 21 percent, from 23 homicides in 2015 to 18 last year. Burglaries and robberies also fell sharply – burglaries declined 14.6 percent, from 4,675 in 2015 to 3,991 last year, and robberies were down 14.5 percent, from 311 in 2015 to 266 in 2016. Larceny-thefts, simple assaults, domestic violence assaults and motor vehicle thefts also declined last year.

ARSON, RAPES, SOME ASSAULTS RISE

Arson saw the largest increase, jumping 129.7 percent, with 209 incidents last year, up from 91 reported in 2015. State officials said that increase is largely because of a new reporting system that has the state Fire Marshal’s Office reporting arson incidents, rather than individual police departments. McCausland said there were some inconsistencies in reporting of arson cases in the past by local police, and it’s expected that the numbers will be more accurate now because the Fire Marshal’s Office investigates all arson cases in the state.

Rapes increased by 2.7 percent, from 373 cases in 2015 to 383 last year, along with aggravated assaults, which increased from 916 to 1,002 incidents, up 9.4 percent. Aggravated assaults involve the use of a weapon in committing an assault. McCausland said he knew of no specific reason for the increase.

The department also said the decrease in crime was relatively uniform between rural areas and cities and towns. Crime in rural parts of Maine, which are typically patrolled by state police or county sheriff’s departments, dropped by 9.8 percent. In urban areas, which typically have their own municipal police departments, the decline was 8.3 percent.

Adult arrests were down 3.4 percent last year, from 41,649 in 2015 to 40,227 in 2016. Juvenile arrests also were down, from 3,547 in 2015 to 3,222 last year, or 9.2 percent.

The value of property stolen during 2016 was reported as $17.9 million, down from $20.3 million in 2015. Police recovered 28.5 percent of the stolen property last year, valued at $5.1 million. In 2015, police recovered $5.7 million in stolen property.

Edward D. Murphy can be contacted at 791-6465 or at:

emurphy@pressherald.com

AUGUSTA

Tuesday at 10:23 a.m., one person was taken to MaineGeneral Medical Center following a request for assistance from a Chamberlain Street caller.

1:31 p.m., a Water Street caller reported criminal threatening.

5:41 p.m., a caller from Anthony Avenue reported terrorizing.

CHINA

Tuesday at 11:12 a.m., one person was arrested on unspecified charges following a report from a Windsor Road caller.

HALLOWELL

Tuesday at 2:28 p.m., a Spring Street caller reported terrorizing.

9:34 p.m., a 32-year-old Augusta man was issued a summons charging him with unauthorized taking or transfer as a result of a follow-up investigation on Water Street.

Wednesday at 1:06 a.m., one person was arrested during a motor vehicle stop on Water Street.

2:11 a.m., an Academy Street caller reported suspicious activity.

WINTHROP

Tuesday at 9:43 p.m., a High Street caller reported an animal problem.

ARREST

AUGUSTA

Tuesday at 1:36 p.m., Andrew Paul Bilodeau, 54, of Augusta, was arrested on a Kennebec County warrant and on charges of operating while license suspended or revoked and violating condition of release. The arrest followed a report of a disabled motor vehicle at Cony Street and Calumet Bridge at Old Fort Western.

AUGUSTA — A mental health worker injured 15 months ago when she was assaulted by a patient at Riverview Psychiatric Center in Augusta is suing the patient for money to cover her medical bills, lost wages and other damages.

Sally Nichols, of New Sharon, so far has won a judge’s approval for a $100,000 attachment on any property owned by Arlene Marie Edson, 33, who is serving a four-year prison term for that assault and three others. Edson herself had sued the state hospital in federal court over being pepper-sprayed there, and she received $180,000 last summer to settle her claims.

Edson pleaded guilty to the four assault charges last January and is now at the Maine Correctional Center in Windham.

A lawsuit filed by Nichols’ attorney, Roger Katz, describes the July 18, 2016, attack on Nichols, who was working on the Lower Saco unit at Riverview.

It quotes Nichols as saying, “Without cause and without provocation, (Edson) assaulted me by slugging me in the area of my right eye.”

Edson had been placed at the state hospital after being found not criminally responsible in 2011 of arson and assault.

“The defendant assaulted Sally from behind — it was a totally unprovoked attack on a defenseless woman,” Katz wrote in an email sent Tuesday. “The defendant had some mental health issues but clearly knew just what she is doing. Sally has some lasting and permanent health issues now and the defendant bears responsibility.”

The lawsuit says that as a result of assault, Nichols was injured seriously and now suffers from “continuous headaches that range anywhere from 6-9 on a scale of 10.” She says she takes up to 10 ibuprofen a day for headaches.

“Defendant’s assault caused nerve damage such that the right side of my face droops somewhat, which I find embarrassing,” Nichols said. “Because of the lack of sensation in parts of the right side of my face, I often find myself drooling. Also, my right eye ‘wants to close’ and becomes heavy. I continue to be bothered by the broken teeth I sustained.”

Nichols says that after the assault, she was treated by Augusta Rescue, MaineGeneral Medical Center, Workplace Health in Farmington, optometrists, ophthalmologists and other doctors.

Since the attack, Nichols has returned to her job at Riverview.

“She loves her job — been there 15 years (and was a) former Mental Health Worker of the Year there,” Katz said in an email.

Nichols is seeking punitive damages.

Justice William Stokes, who has been assigned to the case, ordered the attachment on Edson’s property.

Edson’s attorney, Amber L. Tucker, in a response to the lawsuit, says the defendant admits being an involuntary patient at Riverview and being charged and sentenced for the assaults — including the one on Nichols — but “is without knowledge” regarding other items in the lawsuit.

Tucker did not respond to a phone message or an email sent Tuesday seeking comment.

The deadline for discovery in the case is May 1, 2018.

Edson previously spent 18 months in prison for assaulting another hospital worker in similar circumstances on Dec. 11, 2014. In that case, the prosecutor told the judge that the victim was standing at a desk in the common area “when Edson came up behind her and hit her in the head a number of times. Edson said she’d continue to do it unless she got what she wanted.” The hospital staff interpreted that to mean that Edson wanted to be placed at a prison rather than a hospital.

In a court filing about the assaults on Nichols and three others, Assistant District Attorney Kate Marshall, wrote “The past and (then-) pending assaultive behavior is often unprovoked and initiated against staff persons who are caught in vulnerable positions.”

To date, Edson has a dozen assault convictions.

Riverview, the 92-bed psychiatric hospital that replaced the Augusta Mental Health Institute, has had a series of problems over the past years, including a number of assaults by patients on nurses and mental health workers. Many of the patients were prosecuted criminally and, like Edson, now are serving time in prison.

Edson sued the hospital, the commissioner of the state Department of Health and Human Services and people who were employed at the hospital in December 2013 when she was pepper-sprayed while naked and left without treatment for hours.

A stipulation of dismissal, signed by all parties last May, does not provide any details. However, Andrew Roth-Wells, spokesman for the attorney general’s office, said via email that “the state paid $180,000 to settle all claims Ms. Edson brought against the state and various present and former state employees.”

In that case, Edson, through attorney Tucker, had charged use of excessive force, unreasonable bodily restraint, failure to intervene and failure to train, among other counts, including violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act. She sought compensation for her injuries and damages.

A number of defendants had been dismissed earlier, including the governor, the Department of Health and Human Services, and former Riverview Superintendent Jay Harper.

Betty Adams — 621-5631

badams@centralmaine.com

Twitter: @betadams

WILTON — A local teenager was charged with taking more than $21,000 in cash and checks Monday from the Town Office, police Chief Heidi Wilcox said Tuesday.

Police recovered all but $51 of the $2,800 in cash and a stack of checks valued at $18,900, she said. The 17-year-old apparently saw an opportunity to take the money just before the close of business, she said.

Wilton police Officer Ethan Kyes charged the teen with theft.

Wilcox declined to give further details while the investigation continues.

The teen must report to a Juvenile Community Corrections officer and Juvenile Court, she said.

Security measures at the Town Office are being reviewed, Wilcox said.

Attorneys for convicted murderer Anthony H. Sanborn Jr. on Wednesday questioned a retired Portland Police detective about whether the police adequately pursued alternate suspects during the investigation into the 1989 murder of 16-year-old Jessica L. Briggs.

Retired police detective James Daniels returned to the witness stand Wednesday, and was questioned by one of Sanborn’s attorneys, Amy Fairfield, about multiple people who could also have had an opportunity to kill Briggs.

The day of testimony played out methodically, although the tension between Fairfield and Assistant Attorney Generals Paul Rucha and Meg Elam, who are fighting to preserve Sanborn’s conviction, grew visible.

At one point, Fairfield appeared to ask Rucha to stop interjecting comments or references when she was asking questions. Fairfield responded to an inaudible comment by Rucha, and they argued in a whisper as Justice Joyce Wheeler waited.

“Don’t take that tone with me, please,” Rucha was heard saying to Fairfield, before both attorneys moved on.

Daniels testified that he interviewed a man named Karl Gee, who said he spoke with another person named David who told him he witnessed the murder.

The person named David told Gee that he knew who killed Briggs — a third man who went by “Butch,” according to testimony Wednesday.

Daniels said investigators were aware of someone who went by “Butch,” a man named Morris King. With detectives, Gee helped form a composite sketch of David.

In his notes, Daniels had a photograph of someone named “D.W. Collins,” along with a notation, “David Collins, regarding Karl Gee report.” Daniels said the composite developed to identify Collins was not turned over to defense attorneys, and he was not sure whether Collins’ last name was turned over either.

“Do you remember seeing anything in a report about David Collins?” Fairfield asked.

“I’m not sure,” Daniels said. “I don’t know, I don’t remember.”

Another potential suspect was a man believed to have been walking near Jessica when she and a boy with a bike strolled down the Maine State Pier, where she was later brutally killed.

At the time in 1989, Bath Iron Works operated a dry dock facility on the Maine State Pier, where police and prosecutors believe she was murdered.

At that time, BIW chartered a bus that took third-shift workers from the Portland facility back to Bath. The bus waited near the pier each night around midnight, around the time Briggs was believed to have walked by.

The driver of the bus worked with police to develop a sketch of a man he reported seeing walking about six feet ahead of Briggs as she disappeared behind a gate toward the pier.

The man’s sketch was never released publicly at the time, but was discovered in the two boxes of case files Daniels kept at his home for nearly two decades, along with other composite sketches.

Daniels resisted using the terms “suspect” and “person of interest” to describe the man, and said he does not know if he was ever identified.

“The investigation took us in another direction. We were looking at other people,” Daniels said.

Fairfield also turned her attention to a man whom Sanborn’s original defense team sought to identify as an alternate suspect — Scott Knoll.

At trial, Knoll said that on the night before the murder, he left Peppermint Park before midnight. But in an interview with police where Knoll explained the timeline of his own whereabouts, Knoll said he got home about 1:45 a.m.

Daniels hesitated to use the terms “rule in” and “rule out” to describe Knoll, and said to determine the answer, he would have to “look at the whole thing in its entirety.”

Fairfield asserted that the alternate, later time frame for Knoll’s return home was not noted in a report that was handed over to the defense.

When asked about the conflicting trial testimony of the time-frames that could have meant Knoll was not at home when Briggs was killed, Daniels, who sat with prosecutors throughout the trial, said he did not think it was his role to jump up and object when sworn testimony seemed incorrect.

“My role at the prosecution’s table is not to intently listen to everything,” he said. “I could have been looking at a file, I could have been doing any number of things. I’m not a practicing attorney, it’s not my role.”

Fairfield shot back: “Is it your role to make sure the right person was convicted of murder?”

“Of course,” Daniels said.

“Is it your role to document what witnesses say in a report?” she asked.

“Yes,” he said.

“Did you document that in a report?” Fairfield replied.

“I don’t know,” Daniels said.

Matt Byrne can be contacted at 791-6303 or at:

mbyrne@pressherald.com

Twitter: MattByrnePPH

IN CLINTON, Tuesday at 5:39 p.m., juvenile offenses were reported on Park Avenue.

8:44 p.m., a disturbance was reported on Bellsqueeze Road.

11:28 p.m., criminal mischief was reported on Silver Street.

Wednesday at 12:19 a.m., harassment was reported on Silver Street.

IN FAIRFIELD, Tuesday at 10:09 a.m., mischief was reported on Main Street.

10:26 a.m., threatening was reported on School Street.

1:10 p.m., trespassing was reported on Main Street.

1:45 p.m., vandalism was reported on Currier Road.

6:14 p.m., trespassing was reported on Summit Street.

Wednesday at 5:19 a.m., suspicious activity was reported on Norridgewock Road.

IN MADISON, Tuesday at 9:35 p.m., suspicious activity was reported on Pinewood Drive.

IN OAKLAND, Tuesday at 5:44 p.m., suspicious activity was reported on Main Street.

IN PALMYRA, Tuesday at 4:45 p.m., a domestic disturbance was reported on Main Street.

IN PITTSFIELD, Wednesday at 8:39 a.m., vandalism was reported on Main Street.

IN SKOWHEGAN, Tuesday at 11:21 a.m., suspicious activity was reported on Madison Avenue.

11:27 a.m., suspicious activity was reported on Pennell Street.

12:18 p.m., a scam was reported on Oak Pond Road.

12:47 p.m., theft was reported on West Front Street.

1:25 p.m., a scam was reported on Elm Street.

2:51 p.m., a scam was reported on Stevens Road.

3:39 p.m., a domestic disturbance was reported on Bailey Street.

6:51 p.m., suspicious activity was reported on Pine Street.

6:56 p.m., suspicious activity was reported on West Front Street.

Wednesday at 8:39 a.m., vandalism was reported on Beauford Street.

IN WATERVILLE, Tuesday at 9:52 a.m., a disturbance was reported in The Concourse.

2:22 p.m., suspicious activity was reported on College Avenue.

3:01 p.m., a domestic dispute was reported on Elm Street.

6:25 p.m., harassment was reported on Crestwood Drive.

6:41 p.m., suspicious activity was reported on Sherwin Street.

6:56 p.m., shoplifting was reported at Walmart.

10:36 p.m., suspicious activity was reported on Kennedy Memorial Drive.

Wednesday at 12:11 a.m., criminal mischief was reported on Water Street.

12:58 a.m., suspicious activity was reported on College Avenue.

1:36 a.m., an unwanted person was reported on Elm Street.

2:58 a.m., theft was reported at MaineGeneral Medical Center.

IN WINSLOW, Tuesday at 2:42 p.m., a protection order violation was reported on Benton Avenue.

3:33 p.m., an assault was reported on Clinton Avenue.

5:54 p.m., criminal trespassing was reported on South Garand Street.

11:35 p.m., suspicious activity was reported on Bellevue Street.

Wednesday at 1:47 a.m., suspicious activity was reported on Marie Street.

ARRESTS

IN FRANKLIN COUNTY, Tuesday, Robert Curtiss Jr., 27, of Jay, was arrested on a charge of driving without a license.

IN SOMERSET COUNTY, Tuesday at 6:20 p.m., Jodie June Nadeau, 22, of Fairfield, was arrested on a charge of terrorizing, as well as a probation hold.

Wednesday at 8:07 a.m., Robert William Bernier, 49, of New Vineyard, was arrested on a warrant.

IN WINSLOW, Tuesday at 3:02 p.m., Mark John Panico, 60, of Old Orchard Beach, was arrested on a charge of operating under the influence.

South Portland police are urging residents of the city’s east end to lock their doors after investigating several burglaries that occurred in broad daylight.

Over the past four weeks, there have been seven burglaries of homes in neighborhoods bordered by Highland Avenue, Elm and Mussey streets, the police said in a Facebook post Wednesday. The police also issued alerts via recorded messages sent to residents’ land lines.

“In most of these cases the suspect enters the home via an unlocked door in broad daylight. Jewelry, cash and precious metals seem to be the items targeted,” the Facebook post states. “The police department is urging residents to lock their doors when leaving in the morning to go to work, school, the gym etc.”

Residents are also being advised to lock valuable items in personal safes and to photograph valuables in case they are stolen. Police can use the photographs to identify stolen items that are recovered.

Residents should contact the non-emergency police telephone line (874-8575) if they notice anyone suspicious in their neighborhood.

“If we stay vigilant and help look out for each other we will catch this guy,” the police Facebook message said.

Dennis Hoey can be contacted at 791-6365 or at:

dhoey@pressherald.com

IN ANSON, Wednesday at 10:18 a.m., a theft was reported on Willow Street.

IN EMBDEN, Wednesday at 11:13 a.m., a harassment complaint was taken from Embden Pond Road.

7:03 p.m., a harassment complaint was taken from Embden Pond Road.

IN FAIRFIELD, Wednesday at 9:42 a.m., a theft was reported on Osborne Street.

11:16 a.m., vandalism was reported on Kelley Street.

12:35 p.m., police were called to assist another agency on Water Street.

12:42 p.m., a report of larceny or fraud was taken from Summit Street.

1:19 p.m., a burglary was reported. No location was given.

4:59 p.m., trespassing was reported on Elm Street.

6:59 p.m., police made an arrest during a motor vehicle stop on Main Street.

IN HARMONY, Wednesday at 10:54 p.m., a disturbance was reported on Mainstream Road.

IN MADISON, Wednesday at 11:53 a.m., suspicious activity was reported on Weston Avenue.

IN PALMYRA, Wednesday at 12:42 p.m., police made an arrest on Main Street.

IN PITTSFIELD, Wednesday at 8:39 a.m., vandalism was reported on Main Street.

IN SKOWHEGAN, Wednesday at 9:07 a.m., trespassing was reported on Madison Avenue.

10:43 a.m., vandalism was reported; no location was given.

11:15 a.m., a theft was reported on Russell Road.

12:01 p.m., suspicious activity was reported on Madison Avenue.

Thursday at 8:29 a.m., a warning was issued following a report of a disturbance on McClellan Street.

IN SMITHFIELD, Wednesday at 11:14 p.m., police made an arrest following a report of threatening on Miller Lane.

IN WATERVILLE, Wednesday at 7:22 a.m., an accident causing injuries was reported on Quarry Road.

8:50 a.m., a threatening complaint was investigated on Louise Avenue.

10:07 a.m., a theft was reported at George J. Mitchell School on Drummond Avenue.

11:09 a.m., a traffic hazard was reported on Donald V. Carter Memorial Bridge.

12:02 p.m., a burglary of a motor vehicle was reported on Drummond Avenue.

12:15 p.m., juvenile offenses were reported on South Grove Street.

1:57 p.m., police made an arrest after a report of a domestic dispute on Veteran Court.

3:41 p.m., a report of a theft was investigated at Colby College.

5:19 p.m., police were called to assist another agency at the homeless shelter on Colby Street.

4:21 p.m., police were called to assist another agency on Ticonic Street. A person was taken to the hospital.

6:02 p.m., a person was taken to the hospital after a report of an assault at the Sherwin Street park.

6:28 p.m., police were dispatched in response to a mental health call on Ticonic Street.

7:33 p.m., suspicious activity was reported at apartments on Elm Street.

7:54 p.m., suspicious activity was reported at apartments on Elm Street.

8:38 p.m., a domestic dispute was reported on College Avenue.

8:48 p.m., police were called to assist another agency on Gold Street.

9:32 p.m., an unwanted person was reported on Ticonic Street.

11:19 p.m., suspicious activity was reported at a business on Airport Road.

Thursday at 5:18 a.m., a drug offense was reported at apartments on Quarry Road.

IN WINSLOW, Wednesday at 10:35 a.m., police were called to assist another agency on Clinton Avenue.

5:15 p.m., juvenile offenses were reported at a church on Monument Street.

5:32 p.m., police made a warrant arrest on Rousseau Street.

ARRESTS

IN SOMERSET COUNTY, Wednesday at 9:12 a.m., Mathew Anton Katz, 33, of Moscow, was arrested on a warrant for violating conditions of release.

7:40 p.m., Jared Wade Skidgell, 27, of Skowhegan, was arrested on a warrant for failure to appear.

Thursday at 12:27 a.m., Jonathan David Reynolds, 26, a transient, was arrested on four warrants for failure to appear and unpaid fines.

The retired Portland police detective who investigated the 1989 homicide of Jessica Briggs lashed out from the witness stand Thursday, insisting that he did not “zero right in” on Anthony H. Sanborn Jr. for Briggs’ murder.

James Daniels’ heated exchange with Sanborn attorney Amy Fairfield came in response to rapid-fire questions about his handwritten notes that listed supposed links between Sanborn and the murder. After reading aloud each item, Fairfield tried to refute it.

It was the final exhibit in Fairfield’s direct questioning of Daniels.

Sanborn was convicted in 1992 of the murder, but was freed on bail in April after a key witness recanted. He is trying to clear his name in marathon evidentiary hearings being held before Justice Joyce Wheeler.

As Fairfield went through the list Thursday, Daniels, who had appeared calm over several long days on the witness stand, began to react more forcefully.

“You’re trying to create links to Anthony Sanborn,” Fairfield said, after contradicting a few items with Daniels’ own notes and reports.

“I don’t know what I’m trying to do, you’re telling me what I’m trying to do,” said Daniels, who has asserted repeatedly that he does not remember what some notes meant. “You make a list and you look at a checklist. This points to him. If there’s things that can clear a person, you do that as well.”

But, Fairfield pointed out, no such lists of linkages existed for at least five other possible suspects – “Because you singled, zeroed right in on Anthony Sanborn,” Fairfield said.

“I did not single, zero right in on anyone,” Daniels responded.

The detective said he focused on Sanborn because people around him began to come forward with information that Sanborn had admitted to the murder.

But Fairfield said the reports of second- and third-hand information began pouring in after Sanborn’s picture was shown across the news, and that most of the witnesses in the case were young, vulnerable street-kids.

“And you and Danny Young played good cop, bad cop with these kids, right?” she asked in her final question.

“No, we never did that,” Daniels said.

But less than a week ago, Daniels’ partner, Daniel Young, testified that the two investigators used exactly those tactics when interviewing a teenage witness, David Schwarz.

“I screamed at (Schwarz) trying to be the bad cop, so to speak, trying to get him to stop holding back,” Young said during testimony on Oct. 13.

Now the state will get its chance to cross-examine Daniels.

At the heart of the case are allegations by Fairfield that police withheld exculpatory information from Sanborn’s original defense team, contrary to a legal principle that requires police to turn over such details. Failing to do so is considered a violation of a defendant’s constitutional rights to due process and a fair trial.

Fairfield has focused on a trove of Sanborn case files that Daniels kept in his home for decades after retiring, and has worked to show whether information found in the handwritten documents were faithfully transferred to typewritten reports that were then handed over to the defense.

Daniels, who retired in 1998 after 22 years as a police officer, has struggled to come up with independent recollections of events that occurred nearly 30 years ago.

He has been forced to rely on his notes and reports in a laborious process to discern the meaning of what he wrote half a lifetime ago.

The heated exchanges Thursday came after a round of questions about a potential alternate suspect, Morris “Butch” King, who knew the 16-year-old victim and was angry Briggs had refused to be a prostitute for him and had broken up with him.

Daniels read from his notes about meeting with multiple people who described King and said he “went” with Briggs.

But in an official report that was turned over to Sanborn’s original defense team, King told investigators he did not know Briggs, and the record was never altered to reflect the information in Daniels’ handwritten notes.

“What ruled him out?” Fairfield asked.

“Nothing ruled him out, we just didn’t build a case against him,” Daniels said.

“And you have three instances in your notes saying Morris ‘Butch’ King knew Jessica Briggs, and we have a report saying that he didn’t know her.”

“Yes,” Daniels said.

Although the hearings were originally scheduled for 12 days and would end next Wednesday, the clerk’s office at Cumberland County Unified Criminal Court is holding Courtroom 8 for the Sanborn hearings indefinitely, or until Wheeler leaves for vacation on Nov. 17.

The length of the proceedings is unusual.

Wheeler indicated fatigue with the slow course of the hearing, and has asked the attorneys during witness testimony to speed along the admission of documents into evidence.

“I don’t know about anyone else, but I’m wiped,” Wheeler said, after she ascended the bench just after 9 a.m.

So far only two witnesses – Donald Macomber, one of the original prosecutors on the case, and Glenn Brown, a friend of Sanborn – have completed their testimony.

The rest of the time has been absorbed by the painstaking testimony of the retired detectives.

Still yet to testify is then-Assistant Attorney General Pamela Ames, the lead prosecutor during the 1992 trial, who is expected to begin testifying Friday.

Ames is now an attorney in private practice in Waterville.

She maintains that Sanborn’s conviction was proper and that he was guilty of the murder.

Matt Byrne can be contacted at 791-6303 or at:

mbyrne@pressherald.com

Twitter: MattByrnePPH