ROCKLAND, Maine — A 50-year-old Owls Head man — who has been held for 14 months while awaiting trial on a variety of charges including burglary, assault and tampering with a victim — is asking the judge hearing his case to recuse himself and to move the trial outside of Knox County.
During a status conference held Monday afternoon, Justice Daniel Billings scheduled hearings on Steven E. Clarke’s recusal request and change of venue for Friday in Knox County Superior Court.
Clarke asked Billings to recuse himself from the case because Billings had been the district court judge that oversaw a protective custody case involving Clarke in 2012. Clarke argued in his motion that he believes Billings would be unable to make fair, objective and impartial decisions in the upcoming trial.
He also filed motions to have the trial moved to Lincoln County, saying there had been extensive pretrial publicity in Knox County.
Clarke was arrested in November 2013 and ordered held on $5,000 cash bail on charges of domestic violence assault, bail violation and tampering with a witness. In December 2013, Justice Jeffrey Hjelm ordered that Clarke be held without bail after the district attorney’s office presented evidence that the defendant had made multiple telephone calls from jail to get witnesses to change their testimony.
According to an affidavit filed by Rockland police in connection with the November domestic assault case, an 18-year-old woman said she had dated Clarke for about six weeks but broke up with him about two weeks earlier because he had become controlling and was calling her bad names. The woman said when she met Clarke in Rockland after the break up, he grabbed her by the neck and swore at her, according to the affidavit.
Before his arrest that November, Clarke had been free on bail awaiting trial on charges of aggravated criminal trespass, burglary and domestic violence assault. In that case, according to police reports from May 2013, Clarke broke into a Cushing home, assaulted a woman who was in the home, and broke a window and lamp.
Clarke also said Monday that it has been difficult for him to prepare his defense since he has been transferred to the Somerset County Jail in Skowhegan while his new attorney, Lynn Madison, is located in Boothbay Harbor. He said he is only allowed to make one phone call per day to his attorney.
Billings said he shared Clarke’s concerns and would check on the matter. He pointed out, however, that he did not have the authority to tell the Knox County sheriff where to keep an inmate.
Depending on the outcome of Friday’s hearings, the trial is likely to be held in March. Clarke said he was concerned about the continued wait since he spends 23 hours per day locked in a cell and he does not know what his mental state will be in another two months.
Knox County Sheriff Donna Dennison said Monday that Clarke was moved out of the Knox jail because of past issues between him and staff.