Lawyer seeks dismissal of murder charge against Fryeburg man

OSSIPEE, N.H. – The man charged with murdering a 14-year-old girl in Chatham in July is mentally ill and not fit to stand trial, according to his public defender.

James Mann, 43, of Fryeburg, Maine, suffers from “pervasive mental illness,” public defender Jesse Friedman told the Conway Daily Sun last week.

Mann is accused of fatally shooting Jasmine Steele, 14, and wounding Linda Miles at Miles’ home on July 11. He faces a charge of attempted murder for allegedly shooting Miles, who lost an eye.

Miles has said Mann was at her home that night to help move a freezer. Mann is being held without bail.

At Mann’s arraignment last week in Carroll County Superior Court, Friedman asked to have the charges dismissed because the state had failed to produce a required mental evaluation of his client. A hearing is expected after Friedman files a written motion.

The court entered not-guilty pleas for Mann, a handyman who did not speak but appeared to be relaxed and alert in court. Area residents describe him as shy.

After the hearing, Friedman told the paper Mann is mentally ill and not competent to stand trial. He declined to comment on whether Mann would claim insanity as his defense.

Friedman said the mental evaluation is overdue and Mann will have been locked up for 150 days by the time it is produced and reviewed by a judge.

Assistant Attorney General Peter Odom declined to comment.

Chatham is a town of about 300 near the Maine border.

Prosecutors said at the time that Mann and the victims knew each other but were not related. They said both victims were shot in the head.