Benoit foes, friends give testimony

AUGUSTA — Judge John S. Benoit of Farmington, who was the subject of a seven-hour hearing for reappointment as judge of the 12th District Court, Skowhegan and Farmington, was called a “lightning rod” on Tuesday.

Rep. Edward Dexter, R-Kingfield, said the judge, like a lightning rod, “sure attracts a lot of attention.”

Benoit, the only judge in Maine history to be censured twice by the Maine Supreme Judicial Court for violation of the Canons of Judicial Ethics, has been nominated by Gov. John R. McKernan for a third seven-year term.

The Legislature’s Judiciary Committee will reconvene at 1 p.m. Wednesday to question Benoit and the governor’s counsel. It appeared likely that the committee would vote on the appointment after final questions to Benoit.

In addition to being called a lightning rod, Benoit was called a liar, wooden, rigid, courteous, sluggish, inefficient, a poor administrator and lacking in self-discipline. One man even claimed to have lost his potency because of Benoit.

Proponents, however, said Benoit was the kind of judge that the people of Somerset and Franklin counties wanted. They said there would be less crime in the state if all judges were like John Benoit.

Benoit told the committee that he has tried to “apply the law so it has a positive effect.”

His censure by the high court, he said, has caused him to give up membership in all social organizations to avoid any appearance of favoritism. He said he reads the Canon of Judicial Ethics every day, especially the canon which directs judges to be “unswayed by public clamor or public criticism.” Benoit said, “I find strength in this code.”

Twenty-two people spoke in favor of the Benoit re-appointment; nine spoke against it. Ralph Austin, Kennebunk, of the Maine Bar Association, presented the anonymous views of 22 Somerset and Franklin county lawyers. Merle Loper, executive director of the Committee on Judicial Responsibility and Disability, reported on past complaints about Benoit.

Roger Katz, president of the Maine Trial Lawyers Association, said the Board of Governors of the association voted against the reappointment of Benoit. He said the lawyers polled were nearly unanimous in their opposition to the judge. Benoit’s harsh sentencing, Katz said, created a two-tier system of justice in Somerset and Franklin counties.

Andrew Ketterer of Madison, who practices law in Norridgewock and is a former three-term president of the Somerset County Bar Association, said he supported Benoit, as did his partner, John Alsop. He said Patricia Danisinka-Washburn, a Skowhegan attorney, favored Benoit’s appointment.

Wayne Charrier, whose restaurant is below the 12th District Court in Skowhegan, said Benoit’s sentencing policies have deterred crime in the areas he served.

“Criminal attorneys are the only ones who don’t want Benoit reappointed,” Charrier said. “It is a positive that you don’t mess around with Judge Benoit. Give us back Judge Benoit. We need him.”