Request for new counsel delays assault trial

ELLSWORTH – The trial of a Sullivan man accused of assaulting a Hancock County Jail corrections officer was delayed indefinitely on Wednesday after he asked a judge for a new attorney.

Randy Garland, 38, is serving six years in prison for stealing several thousand dollars’ worth of goods in 2001 from a marine hardware store in Gouldsboro.

On Wednesday, Garland told Justice Andrew Mead, sitting in Hancock County Superior Court, that though he felt no personal animosity toward his attorney, Steven Juskewitch of Ellsworth, he was not satisfied with the amount of time Juskewitch had spent preparing his defense.

“I have had two 20-minute conversations with Steve,” Garland told Mead. “I don’t feel it’s right.” Garland said he believed he has a chance at being acquitted of the assault charge.

Garland is accused of attacking Ryan Haines, a corrections officer at the jail, on June 26, 2001, according to court documents. Haines’ nose was broken in the incident.

Juskewitch told Mead that if a new lawyer were appointed, he would do what he could to help the new attorney get up to speed with Garland’s case.

“I take no offense at what he says,” Juskewitch said. “I understand his frustration.”

Mead agreed to appoint a new attorney for Garland and to continue his trial to an undetermined date. Garland was returned to the Maine State Prison in Warren after his court appearance.

Garland has a history of eluding police and escaping from custody. Two corrections officers, in plainclothes, sat behind the defendant in court during the session.

In 1988, Garland escaped from the old Hancock County Jail in Ellsworth by smearing his body with butter, kicking out a window 6 inches wide and squeezing himself through to temporary freedom, Hancock County Sheriff William Clark said Wednesday. Garland was being held in jail on a burglary charge when he devised the plan. He saved up butter packets from the meals he was served at the jail, according to the sheriff.

After kicking out the window, Garland threw his clothes outside, squeezed through the 6-inch gap, and fell 15 to 20 feet into a snowbank while “butt-naked, all greased up with butter,” Clark said.

Garland’s freedom lasted only a few hours, as he was found in Ellsworth that night with his clothes back on, hiding under a garage on Beals Avenue, the sheriff said.

“We found out about this within moments of it happening,” Clark said. The sheriff expressed amazement that Garland, who is relatively small in stature, could fit his body through a gap so narrow.

A Maine State Police tactical team raided Garland’s home in February 2001 after he burglarized the Gouldsboro hardware store. The tactical team was used in the raid because Garland allegedly had made comments about shooting police on his property, police have said.

Garland was not home at the time of the raid, but police found in his house boots, gloves, clam hoes and rain gear that they said had been stolen from the store.

Garland was not arrested for the burglary until April of that year, when he turned up in Denver during a routine traffic stop. Law enforcement officials in Maine had notified police in Colorado that Garland was wanted and had him returned to Maine after his arrest.

Garland told Justice Mead on Wednesday that despite his experience with the criminal justice system, he has never before been through a trial. He said he had admitted to earlier charges against him because he had been guilty of the things of which he had been accused.

“Interesting,” Mead said, arching his eyebrows.