ROCKLAND, Maine — A judge ordered Friday that a man charged in connection with the January death of a pedestrian be held without bail until his trial because she was concerned he could abuse drugs again and drive while released.
Jeremy Stone, 41, of Rockport is charged with manslaughter, aggravated criminal operating under the influence, leaving the scene of an accident involving death and possessing improper plates.
He has been held in jail for much of the time since his arrest on Jan. 30 and faces up to 30 years in prison.
Police said Stone was driving drunk on the evening of Jan. 30, when his Jeep Cherokee struck 35-year-old Daniel Cormier as he walked along Camden Street near Pizza Hut in Rockland with two friends. Cormier was declared dead upon arrival at the local hospital. The friends were not injured.
Stone left without stopping, according to police, but was arrested at a Rockland residence shortly after the crash.
During a hearing in Knox County Unified Court on Friday, Assistant District Attorney Jeffrey Baroody asked Judge Susan Sparaco to not grant bail, citing the fact that Stone was jailed on a bail violation in August not long after he had been released on bail.
The bail violation was sought after police were called to a Rockport residence on Aug. 17 for a disturbance involving someone else. Since Stone was in the home and subject to drug testing upon request, however, police conducted a check of him and determined he had taken one extra Klonopin pill than prescribed, a prescription he had renewed the previous night. Stone also tested positive for marijuana use.
Baroody told the judge Friday that those were the same drugs Stone took on the night of the fatal hit-and-run.
Stone admitted to the bail violation on Friday but his attorney asked that bail be set again to allow him to be released.
Defense attorney Jonathan Handelman urged the judge to release Stone so that he could live with his mother and his daughter at his mother’s mobile home in Montville. Handelman said Stone’s mother does not allow liquor or drugs in her home and she could supervise him. The defense attorney said Stone also could check in daily by telephone and weekly in person with the Waldo County Sheriff’s Office.
Handelman said his client denies using marijuana and the positive test could have been the result of eating something with marijuana in it that he was not aware contained the drug. Or, Handelman argued, it could have been from inhaling secondhand marijuana smoke.
Judge Sparaco said her decision to order Stone held without bail was also influenced by the fact that Maine Pre-Trial Services decided Stone was not an appropriate candidate for its program. Handelman contended that Maine Pre-Trial Services refused to monitor Stone because it was a high-profile case.