BELFAST, Maine — Medway businessman James Bryant Lee was returned to jail Wednesday pending a hearing next week on whether he violated his bail conditions while awaiting trial for manslaughter.
The 44-year-old Lee was charged with violating his bail conditions last Friday after witnesses allegedly observed him driving a road grader in East Millinocket.
At the time of the alleged violation, Lee was on $50,000 bail pending trial on charges of manslaughter and aggravated driving to endanger. Conditions of his bail forbid him from driving any motorized vehicle.
The charges against Lee stem from an accident a year ago in the Waldo County town of Monroe that killed one person and injured two others. Lee and the other three men had just completed a construction job in Belfast and were on their way home in a pickup truck Lee was driving when the crash occurred.
William Russell, 28, of Medway was killed in the Sept. 28, 2008 crash. William York, 38, of Medway suffered a broken back, and Chad Brackett, 31, also of Medway suffered cuts and bruises. Lee broke his collarbone.
Police estimated that Lee’s pickup truck was traveling at 74 mph when it left the road. The posted speed limit on that section of Monroe Road is 45 mph.
District Court Judge Joseph Field revoked Lee’s bail during an audio-video hearing conducted Wednesday from three separate locations.
Lee, of Emery Lee and Sons construction company and a former Medway selectman, appeared before Field, who was in 6th District Court in Rockland, on closed-circuit television from 5th District Court in Belfast. Waldo County District Attorney Geoffrey Rushlau took part in the proceedings by telephone from Bar Harbor where he was attending a prosecutors conference.
Field ordered Lee to be held in custody pending a hearing on the bail violation charge he scheduled for 1 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 29 in Belfast.
Lee had been confined at Penobscot County Jail in Bangor after his arrest Friday because of a witness report that he had been driving a road grader. New bail conditions were set for Lee in a Penobscot County court on Monday, but after Rushlau filed a motion in the Waldo County court to revoke his bail, Lee turned himself in at the East Millinocket Public Safety Building on Monday evening and was brought to Penobscot County Jail.
Lee appeared in court Wednesday clad in orange and blue denim jail garments and wearing restraints. After Field’s ruling he was immediately removed from the court and taken to Two Bridges Regional Jail in Wiscasset where he will be held until next week’s hearing.
In making his case for revocation of Lee’s bail, Rushlau referred to the severity of the charges against him and Lee’s lengthy history of violating motor vehicle laws, particularly speeding cases. He said the reason Lee was ordered not to drive while on bail was to “prevent public risk.”
Rushlau told Field that Lee had 36 motor vehicle violations, 25 of which were for speeding. He also pointed out that Lee had backed over and killed a fellow worker while operating heavy construction equipment 20 years ago.
Rushlau described Lee as having “just a chronic and serious speeding history.” He also said the fatal industrial accident “indicates the danger of operating any construction equipment.”
Attorney Jed Davis of Augusta, who represented Lee, questioned the motive of one of the witnesses who claimed to have seen Lee operate the road grader. He said the witness was a friend of William Russell’s mother and told her what she saw before calling the police.
Davis said there were a number of witnesses who would testify that Lee’s son Brian was operating the road grader and that Lee was standing nearby. He said that when police arrived at the location, Brian Lee was running the grader.
Rushlau replied that Lee would have ample time to “argue the case at another time.”
In addition to his alleged bail violation, Lee is still awaiting trial on the manslaughter and driving to endanger charges.
Lee attempted to plead guilty to those charges in Waldo County Superior Court last month but the 12-year sentence with all but four years suspended agreed to by Rushlau and Lee’s defense attorney was rejected by Justice Jeffrey Hjelm as too lenient. Hjelm suggested that a sentence of all but six years suspended would be more appropriate. Lee turned down that offer and is expected to stand trial next year. If convicted, Lee could face up to 35 years in prison.
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