BANGOR, Maine — Former Washington County Sheriff Donnie Smith was found not guilty Wednesday of reckless conduct and driving to endanger in connection with a Lubec incident involving a woman he had previously accused of assaulting him.
The jury of eight women and four men deliberated about 40 minutes late Wednesday afternoon after hearing from about half a dozen witnesses including Smith earlier in the day at the Penobscot Judicial Center.
The case was moved last year to the Bangor courthouse from Washington County out of concern that an impartial jury could not be seated in Machias.
Smith, 63, formerly of Lubec, stood next to his attorney, Don Brown of Brewer, outside the courthouse after the verdict was announced. The former sheriff did not speak to reporters, but his attorney did.
“We are very, very grateful for the jury’s verdict,” Brown said. “The sheriff’s been through a lot since the new administration [of current Sheriff Barry Curtis]. He’s faced two very serious sets of criminal charges. We’re grateful for the process.
“We don’t think he ever should have been charged, but it’s over and, hopefully, they’ll leave him alone,” he added. “That’s really all we have to say.”
Heather Staples, assistant district attorney for Washington County, said after the verdict that the process worked even though it took 19 months for the case to come to trial.
“We had our day, the jury heard the evidence, and the jury made a decision,” she said. “Again, the process took place, and that’s where we’re at.”
Smith lost his bid for re-election to Curtis in November 2014. He left office on Dec. 31, 2014.
Last month, Staples’ boss, District Attorney Matthew Foster, dismissed felony theft and other charges against Smith in another case because prosecutors could not prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the former sheriff was aware there was a defined set of standards on how money from inmate benefit funds could be spent.
Smith was accused of taking $11,700 from the inmate benefit account between January 2007, just after he first took office, and December 2012. He allegedly spent the money on gifts for deputies, charitable donations, meals, flowers, uniforms and other items that did not directly benefit inmates, according to a previously published report.
The incident that led to Wednesday’s trial occurred on Route 189 near School Street in Lubec, and involved Deborah Haskins, formerly known as Bousquet, 42, of Trescott, whom Smith had accused of assaulting him during an incident in October 2014 on a school bus when he was still sheriff.
The assault charge was dismissed later, but Haskins did threaten to file a lawsuit against Smith in Washington County Superior Court alleging false arrest.
Smith was driving his red Toyota pickup truck on Route 189 when he slammed on his brakes, nearly causing her vehicle to rear-end his, Haskins, a teacher, testified Wednesday. Two other vehicles behind the woman also nearly got in a chain-reaction collision, but none of the vehicles ended up striking each other, she said.
Smith testified that he stopped suddenly to avoid hitting a cat. He said he did not know who was driving the SUV behind him but believed it was following him too closely. He said the driver honked her horn at him and made an obscene gesture at him with both hands.
Haskins told the jury that she did not know who was driving the truck but thought it might “be some girl with an issue with me.” The teacher said she was angry about the near collision and made an obscene gesture to the driver of the truck but did not let go of her steering wheel.
Under cross-examination, she denied honking her horn at the red truck.
The vehicles resumed traveling along the road and, when Haskins went to turn into the entrance of the local elementary school, Smith stopped a second time, blocking the entrance to School Street, she testified.
This time, Smith got out of his vehicle and “ran over” to her car, Haskins testified. She said he shouted at her and called her an obscene name, repeatedly telling her, “You need to back off.”
He also grabbed the door handle and tried to open it, but she was able to lock it before he could, Haskins testified.
Smith told the jury that he was distracted by the driver behind him and went up on the curb at School Street. He said he got out of his truck “to see what the problem was.” Smith said he walked but did not run to the driver’s side of her car, when he recognized her.
“She said she didn’t know it was me but thought it was a woman she was having issues with,” he said. “She apologized several times.”
Smith testified that he called to report the incident because the assault charge was still pending at the time and because he thought she was following him too closely.
Haskins admitted that she did not call 911 until the following day when she called police from the office of her attorney, Jeffrey Davidson of Machias.
Former Washington County Deputy Sheriff Timothy Carter testified that he took statements from Smith, Haskins and witness Larry Dinsmore of Lubec but did not issue any summonses. The charges against Smith were filed Jan. 29, more than three weeks after the incident.
Carter now works for the Police Department in Gulfport, Florida.
Smith is not the first former Washington County sheriff to face charges.
Joseph Tibbetts, 68, of Columbia pleaded guilty in May 2010 to a charge of threatening display of a dangerous weapon, after originally being charged with criminal threatening with a dangerous weapon, a felony.
He was ordered a year later to pay a $250 fine, perform 120 hours of community service and forfeit a single firearm.
Tibbetts maintained that he stopped a vehicle he believed contained people who were stealing blueberries while he worked a security detail in Columbia in August 2009.
The couple and their children in the car, however, said they were out looking for coyotes and were terrorized by Tibbetts.
If convicted, Smith would have faced up to a year in prison and a fine of up to $2,000 on the reckless conduct charge. He faced up to six months in jail and a fine of up to $1,000 on the driving to endanger charge.
Smith now lives much of the year in Florida, Brown said.
BDN writer Bill Trotter contributed to this report.