DOVER-FOXCROFT, Maine — A local man who had been out on bail after being accused of attempted murder in 2014 was back in court and back behind bars Monday facing new charges in connection with an incident last week outside the Piscataquis County courthouse.
Wilbur Joe Corson, 23, is charged with assault, terrorizing and violating bail conditions, according to District Attorney R. Christopher Almy. During Corson’s initial court appearance on Monday, bail was set at $2,000 on the new charges, Almy said.
Corson’s next court appearance is scheduled for 2 p.m. Thursday.
Corson was arrested Friday night accused of assaulting and terrorizing a former neighbor. Corson and his cousin Kyle Corson were arrested last April on attempted murder and other felony charges and held on $2,500 bail. Almy submitted a motion to revoke Corson’s bail based on the new charges.
Almy said the man “just happened to be across from the courthouse” March 9 when Corson allegedly jumped and threatened him.
The alleged assault took place just after jury selection for Corson’s upcoming trial, said Almy, who also is district attorney for Penobscot County. Almy noted on Friday that jury selection in the case was not going smoothly because too many potential jurors either knew about the case or knew people involved.
Almy said it was not yet clear what the court will do next about getting an impartial jury.
The original attempted murder charges resulted from a shooting that occurred in April 2014 when the Corson cousins were residing together in an apartment on Lancaster Avenue. The man who was shot, 49-year-old Reginald Melvin, also was arrested on an aggravated assault charge the following month.
Dover-Foxcroft Police Chief Dennis Dyer said last spring that the parties involved in the shooting had a criminal history, including a well-publicized street brawl in August 2013 in Guilford, in which one man was shot in the forearm and three others were sent to the hospital.