HALLOWELL, Maine - MaineToday Media is asking Kennebec County Superior Court Justice Donald Marden to force the Maine State Police to release details of their investigation of a Hallowell police chief accused of sexual assault by a policewoman he continues to supervise. Justice Marden says he will balance individual confidentiality against the larger public interest.
A little more than a year ago, a Hallowell patrol woman claimed she was sexually assaulted by the city's police chief at his camp after having consensual sex with him on two earlier occasions. As outlined in the Kennebec Journal, a publication of MaineToday Media, the woman argued that on the night of the alleged assault, she was too intoxicated to consent to sex. A Maine State Police investigation concluded last October with no charges filed against the chief.
The newspaper requested a copy of the investigation under the state's Freedom of Information Act, or FOIA, but was denied by the Attorney General's Office, on grounds that the parties involved were entitled to confidentiality. The paper appealed the matter to Kennebec County Superior Court, where Matthew Warner, the KJ's attorney, told Justice Donald Marden that the public has a right to know if the investigation was conducted properly.
That prompted the judge to ask Warner whether he was suggesting that a cover up had taken place. "No your honor," Warner said. "Frankly, we don't know what the records show because we haven't seen them."
Now Justice Marden must decide whether the newspaper's request should be granted to satisfy the public interest - or whether the paper is simply on a fishing expedition. Warner says the public's interest is compelling, particularly because it involves a felony allegation against Hallowell's police chief. "The public interest here alone is simply in whether the investigation was conducted properly, or not," Warner said.
Representing the Maine State Police, Assistant Attorney General Laura Yustak Smith told the judge there are numerous reasons why he shouldn't grant the newspaper's request. But she stressed that existing state laws guarantee the confidentiality of victims and potential defendants in Maine criminal cases.
"If sexual assault and sexual relationships are not afforded protection, if the investigation of those types of crimes don't get protection under the Intelligence and Investigative Record Information Act, then what aspects of a person's life would be considered private?" Yustak Smith said.
Lawyers in the case said they expect Justice Marden to issue a decision soon.