Two attorneys competing to become the top elected prosecutor in Hancock and Washington counties have opposing positions on how to use limited resources to handle a backlog that has kept some cases in limbo for years.
District Attorney Robert Granger of Blue Hill seeks a second four-year term. His challenger, Steven Juskewitch, is a trial attorney from Dedham who has run unsuccessfully for the seat multiple times and has a disciplinary history with the Board of Overseers of the Bar.
Both are running as independents.
The race’s central issues broadly result from understaffing and underfunding throughout Maine’s criminal justice system, and the candidates’ approaches show how local offices are trying to manage the effects of these larger structural problems. The incumbent wants to continue prioritizing prosecuting serious crimes in response, while his challenger wants to try every possible case.
District 7 currently has about 1,600 cases backlogged on its trial docket, according to Granger, and gets up to 300 more each month. Numbers are estimates of cases being worked on, he said.
They peaked around 1,800 in 2023, went down to about 1,400 last year with a full-time justice in Ellsworth, then rose between that justice’s retirement and a new appointment, he said.
Granger attended George Stevens Academy in Blue Hill and previously worked as a wildland firefighter, aircraft captain and instructor, and a law enforcement officer for Vermont’s Fish and Wildlife Department.
After graduating from law school in 1991, he served a one-year appointment as a federal law clerk and then worked as a trial attorney in state and federal courts in Bangor in Ellsworth for 32 years.
To address the backlog in his first term, he prioritized prosecuting the most serious crimes — such as attempted murder, aggravated assault, manslaughter, gross sexual assault, domestic violence, child abuse, child pornography and fraud — and handling lesser offenses through deferred dispositions. Defendants plead guilty but sentencing is delayed for them to meet conditions like community service or paying restitution, and original charges are then typically reduced or dismissed.
Granger’s office is still prosecuting cases from before his tenure because the area didn’t have a full-time judge until April 2024, he said, noting that the courts set the order of trials — not the DA.
Among his accomplishments, Granger listed getting a new prosecutor assigned to the district to focus on drug trafficking cases, reinstating a detective position and leading a transition from paper to online work for some files. He also touts his staff of experienced prosecutors, with a combined 155 years of trial experience.
He would continue his approach to prioritizing cases if reelected. Granger is also open to discussing restorative justice programs, though he said his office questions its efficacy.
He would also keep advocating for adding another prosecutor in the district.
Granger has made progress towards his goals, but four years isn’t enough, he said. He’s also worried about the state’s Speedy Trial Act, which has aimed to reduce backlogs.
The outcome of a case awaiting a decision from Maine’s highest court could mean that people in jail without a lawyer amid the state’s public defender shortage will be released or have their cases dismissed.
“If major criminal cases such as sexual assault cases, aggravated assault and child abuse cases are dismissed because we lack court time to try them all the public will understandably become extremely upset and community safety will most certainly be compromised,” he said. “The public needs to appreciate this problem.”
Juskewitch’s Ellsworth practice focuses on criminal defense and personal injury. He represented municipalities in southern Maine and prosecuted major felonies in Cumberland County before coming to Hancock County. He was previously an assistant district attorney here and has practiced law since 1976.
He also spent 28 years in the Army, serving with the 82nd Airborne Division.
Juskewitch said his primary reasons for running include staff turnover since Granger’s election, “resulting in an unbelievable number of dismissals, delayed trials, and not guilty verdicts.” The key to his campaign is providing timely and fair justice, he said.
Juskewitch wants to try every possible case, he said at an Oct. 14 candidate forum, and believes the district dismisses too many while not adequately presenting cases to the grand jury. A grand jury reviews evidence from a prosecutor and decides whether someone should be charged with a crime.
He said he would approach the backlog by prioritizing people already in jail and work backwards chronologically, then do the same for the unincarcerated.
He’d review cases with defense attorneys and investigating police officers to resolve them, he said. If unsuccessful, he’d hold judicial settlement conferences with active retired justices and set trial dates.
Granger has said trying every case is not possible.
Some Washington County residents feel underrepresented in the combined district and have pushed for their own DA. The district has offices in Ellsworth, Machias and Calais.
Around 1,000 cases are pending in Hancock County among four prosecutors and 600 in Washington County for two prosecutors, according to Granger.
The courts have also recently set more annual trial terms in Hancock County, he said, reducing Washington County’s from six to three. Those are also shared with the Attorney General’s homicide prosecutions and civil cases Down East, he said.
Granger went to Washington County weekly until that county’s budget crisis led officials to limit travel spending, he said.
His deputy handles most day-to-day business there, and Granger takes on complex, high-profile cases in both counties and also assists with grand juries, deferred disposition conferences and arraignments in both.
Juskewitch expects to spend 40% of his time in Washington County and have a deputy there if elected, he said, promising to spend nights away from home and dedicate significant time to training staff and police, without providing specific examples of trainings.
He also highlighted experience allocating time and resources in his Army service and in Cumberland County.
Juskewitch said he has more experience in management and prosecution than past DAs, highlighting work delegating, training and allocating resources in the military. His campaign website says he has successfully prosecuted more felony trials than all current prosecutors combined.
“The primary change in the DA offices will be the training and guidance based on my experience which I will provide to prosecutors and staff in order for them to accept and succeed with the responsibilities and duties I will delegate to them,” he said.
Five complaints have been filed against Juskewitch with the Board of Overseers of the Bar, and he’s been warned or sanctioned at least three times over his conduct with clients.
Juskewitch said his “extensive” legal practice has included “a number of difficult individuals” who weren’t happy with results.
“I can not say more except, with possible exception of one, I still maintain a good relationship with each of them,” he said. “I am satisfied with the status of the relationship with the exception.”
Granger has had four bar complaints filed against him, he said at the Oct. 14 forum, but none resulted in disciplinary action.
