BELFAST, Maine — A state judge is considering whether to hold in public a hearing to determine whether a 17-year-old from Troy should be tried as an adult or as a juvenile in connection with the March 2015 stabbing death of his father.
Judge Patricia Worth also is considering a defense motion that seeks to have her rule unconstitutional a state law that puts the burden on the defense to prove a juvenile charged with murder should not be tried as an adult.
A hearing was held Monday morning in Belfast District Court on the two motions in the case against Colby Hodgdon, whom the state seeks to try as an adult. Hodgdon was 16 when he was arrested a few weeks after his father, 49-year-old Steven Hodgdon of Troy, was found dead from a stab wound in his home on March 7, 2015. The teen was charged with murder and has remained in custody since his arrest.
The youth’s attorneys, John Martin and Aaron Fethke, have asked the judge to close to the public the bind-over hearing that will determine whether Hodgdon will be tried as an adult or juvenile. In addition, the attorneys claim the bind-over law is unconstitutional because it shifts the burden to the defense of whether a suspect should be tried as a juvenile or adult.
The attorneys have said they may challenge the state law to the Maine Supreme Judicial Court if they are not successful at the lower court level.
On that motion, Fethke argued before Judge Worth on Monday that to prove Hodgdon should be tried as a juvenile, the defense might have to put the youth on the stand to testify. Even if the defense later decided the teen should not testify at his murder trial, anything Hodgdon said at the bind-over hearing still could be used against him, the attorney pointed out.
Assistant Attorney General Leane Zainea, who is prosecuting the case, said she disagreed, arguing Hodgdon was not being compelled to testify during the bind over hearing.
The importance of the determination is significant. A juvenile found to have committed murder can be incarcerated at a juvenile facility until no later than his 21st birthday. A murder conviction as an adult carries a 25 year minimum sentence with a maximum potential term of life in prison.
Hodgdon is being held at the Long Creek Youth Development Center in South Portland. Since his incarceration, according to a docket listing at the courthouse, Hodgdon has been charged with misdemeanor assault at the detention facility. Information on that charge, however, was not available Monday.
The judge has sealed all court documents related to Hodgon’s case, including the affidavit filed by the Maine State Police to charge the teen with murder.
On Monday, the judge called the attorneys for the defense and prosecution into her chambers to discuss the motion on whether the bind-over hearing should be held in public.
After the meeting, both defense attorneys and prosecutor Zainea declined to reveal their arguments and would only say the judge has taken the matter under advisement.
Martin told Judge Worth during a status hearing on the case in April that he no longer plans to make the youth’s competency an issue.
The defense has listed 19 potential witnesses for the bind-over hearing, but Martin said in April that it may be cut that in half by the time the hearing is held in August.