AUGUSTA, Maine — Five judges from Kennebunk, Yarmouth, Monmouth, Newcastle and Bangor were sworn in on Monday by Gov. Paul LePage, the governor’s office announced in a statement.
Maria Woodman, Paul Mathews, Jed J. French and Mike Roberts will serve as District Court judges, while Superior Court Justice Paul Fritzsche will serve as an Active Retired Justice for the Superior Court.
“As governor, I have the utmost respect for those serving in the judicial branch,” said LePage. “In choosing judges, my focus is on the qualifications, demeanor and integrity of the candidates. These respected professionals reflect those priorities. I am confident they will live up to the high standards we expect from Maine judges.”
Fritzsche, of Kennebunk, has served as a Superior Court Justice for 29 years. He was also a Public Advocate from 1983 to 1986, representing consumers before the Public Utilities Commission, courts, the Legislature and federal agencies. He also served from 1975 to 1981 as staff attorney and directing attorney for Pine Tree Legal Assistance in Lewiston and Portland. A graduate of Worcester Polytechnic Institute, he earned his law degree at the University of Maine Law School.
Mathews, of Newcastle, a family law magistrate in the Maine District Court since 1998, served from 1979 to 1981 as Deputy District Attorney in Augusta and from 1981 to 1983 as Assistant District Attorney in Bath. In his private practice, he handled family law matters, criminal defense and trial work in District and Superior Court. He is a graduate of St. Anselm College in Manchester, New Hampshire, attended St. John’s College in Santa Fe, New Mexico, for graduate studies in liberal arts and earned his law degree at Gonzaga University School of Law in Spokane, Washington.
Woodman, of Monmouth, a family law magistrate in the Maine District Court since 2012, served as an Assistant District Attorney from 2003 to 2010 in the Division of Child Support and Maine Care Crimes Unit. From 1999 to 2003, she served as assistant district attorney for the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office in New York, prosecuting cases ranging from murder to felony drugs. Woodman has degrees from George Washington University and American University, Washington College of Law, in Washington, D.C.
Roberts, of Bangor, a deputy district attorney, is a prosecutor with more than 30 years of experience. An experienced drug court prosecutor, he has been with the District Attorney’s Office in Bangor since 1983 and is responsible for the case evaluation of all Penobscot County felonies, including arson, manslaughter, robbery, gross sexual assaults, attempted murder and white-collar crimes. He is a graduate of the University of Maine and Western New England College, School of Law.
French, of Yarmouth, a managing law partner at Powers & French, P.A. since 1994, has handled cases ranging from unemployment compensation, business dissolution and real estate disputes to felony criminal charges, personal injury and family matters. He is a Judge Advocate in the U.S. Air Force/Air National Guard and has been appointed as arbitrator, referee and special master for 14 courts. From 1988 to 1991, he worked for U.S. Sen. William S. Cohen. He is a graduate of the University of Southern Maine and the University of Maine School of Law.
