Man sentenced in assault on officer Bangor jury rejects defendant’s claim that police used excessive force

BANGOR – The Bangor man who has sued the three police officers who arrested him last year was sentenced Wednesday in Penobscot County Superior Court to 90 days in jail with all but 10 days suspended and one year of probation.

Andy D. Smith, 29, last month was found guilty of assault, refusing to submit to arrest and disorderly conduct after a one-day trial. The jury of eight women and four men rejected Smith’s claim that he was not guilty of the charges and that police used excessive force when they arrested him.

“The evidence here demonstrated that Mr. Smith was the aggressor,” Superior Court Justice Jeffrey Hjelm said Wednesday. “It was only after Mr. Smith forced the hand of the officers … that they took action. The fact that Mr. Smith came away with some significant injuries was a result of decisions made by Mr. Smith.”

Brett Baber, Smith’s Bangor attorney, on Wednesday filed a letter of intent to appeal the conviction to the Maine Supreme Judicial Court and a motion to stay the sentence. Smith remains free on bail pending the outcome of the appeal.

Smith was arrested early on Nov. 22 after he was removed forcibly from Benjamin’s Tavern on Central Street in Bangor. When officers placed Smith under arrest, he resisted, according to Penobscot County Deputy District Attorney Michael Roberts. A scuffle ensued, and Smith put Officer Christopher Morley in a headlock.

During Wednesday’s sentence hearing, the prosecutor urged Hjelm to impose a sentence that required Smith to serve at least 15 days in jail due to the nature of the crime and Smith’s prior record, which includes four convictions in three states during the past decade.

Roberts said that, in essence, Smith had assaulted the officers three different times – when he was arrested, when he filed a complaint with the Bangor Police Department alleging excessive force and when he filed a lawsuit in federal court alleging police brutality.

Smith’s attorney disagreed. He urged that a high fine and community service be imposed. Baber also said that Smith should not be penalized for exercising his rights by filing the complaint or the lawsuit.

“There was no intent to injure [the officers],” Baber said of Smith’s actions last year. “This was apparent street justice exacted after this [initial] exchange.”

Hjelm said that Smith “was not a victim of street justice” and that the force used by officers in making the arrest was warranted.

Smith apologized to the court for the “inconvenience” the incident had caused. He said that he had changed his behavior and no longer goes to bars.

Unless his conviction is reversed on appeal, Smith’s lawsuit filed earlier this year in U.S. District Court in Bangor would have to be withdrawn, Baber has said. The conviction on the resisting arrest charge nullifies Smith’s claim that his civil rights were violated by police because they used excessive force in arresting him.

An internal review conducted earlier this year by the Bangor Police Department cleared Officers Morley, Russell Twaddell III and Dennis K. Townsend of any wrongdoing, Bangor Police Chief Don Winslow said last month.