ROCKLAND, Maine — A federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit filed by a Rockland woman who asked the court to stop a state prosecutor and judge from pursuing an assault case against a man accused of pushing her.
Judge Nancy Torresen agreed Thursday to a request by the state to dismiss the lawsuit filed two months ago by Cassandra Plummer against Judge Patricia Worth, District Attorney Geoffrey Rushlau, Assistant District Attorney Jeffrey Baroody and the city of Rockland.
Torresen ruled Plummer did not have standing to challenge the prosecution of Theodore Berry and a bail requirement he not have contact with her. Berry was charged in May with domestic violence assault.
That case, however, may be dropped after Maine Judge Daniel Billings ruled the 911 tape of a call, in which Plummer made comments about the incident, as well as a police body camera video, in which she said Berry had pushed, her cannot be used at trial against Berry.
In her decision, Torresen cited a U.S. Supreme Court ruling, which bars the federal court from interfering with an ongoing state criminal prosecution unless there are extraordinary circumstances.
Plummer had argued in her lawsuit that Rockland police violated the law by releasing information about Berry’s arrest. Berry failed in an attempt before Worth in June to have court documents in his case sealed.
Plummer denies being assaulted and contended that Worth’s bail condition barring Berry from being with her was illegal under various portions of the U.S. Constitution.
Billings ruled Berry could seek to have those restrictions lifted.