Justice Andrew Horton ruled on a defense motion to sever in the case of former Great Salt Bay Community School teacher Peter Simonds March 8 in Lincoln County Superior Court.
Simonds was indicted last August on charges of unlawful sexual contact and unlawful sexual touching. Simonds’ lawyer, Eric “Rick” Morse, filed the motion in an attempt to require seven separate trials, one for each of the victims named in Simonds’ 22-count indictment.
Horton didn’t grant seven trials, but did sever counts 20-22 in the indictment, citing the 19-month separation between the two groups of charges.
The final three counts of unlawful sexual touching, a Class D crime, refer to incidents in April 2008 and name three victims.
The first 19 counts, including nine counts of Class C unlawful sexual contact, charge Simonds with crimes in between Dec. 1, 2009 and March 18, 2010, the day of his resignation, and names four victims.
Simonds, 45, of Nobleboro, resigned from his position as a fourth grade teacher after confessing to inappropriately touching some of his students.
Morse and Assistant District Attorney Andrew Wright, the prosecutor, briefly argued two other defense motions the same day – a motion for change of venue and a motion for return of property.
Morse said a change of venue, which would move any future trial(s) out of Lincoln County and into neighboring Knox or Sagadahoc counties, is necessary “to protect the integrity of the judicial process.”
Morse cited extensive media coverage of Simonds’ case and the resulting widespread public knowledge of the case as the basis of his argument.
Wright expressed concern about the motion, but ultimately called Morse’s concerns about media exposure “legitimate” and acknowledged the likely difficulty of impaneling a jury to hear the case in Lincoln County.
Wright asked Horton to select Sagadahoc County as the venue if he grants the motion. Knox and Lincoln counties share a “nexus of information,” and The Lincoln County News’ readership extends into Knox County, Wright pointed out.
Wright also estimated the distance between the Lincoln County Courthouse in Wiscasset and the Sagadahoc County Courthouse in West Bath at a comparably reasonable 10 miles, easing transportation for minor witnesses and their families.
Morse, a Rockport resident, briefly argued in favor of Knox County. “There’s no knowledge that I’ve detected at all” of the Simonds case in Knox County, Morse said.
Horton suggested conducting an informal poll Friday when a jury pool convenes in Lincoln County in order to determine the level of local knowledge and/or bias regarding the case.
Morse, however, objected to the proposal and, specifically, Horton’s request for Simonds’ attendance during the poll.
“I think a straw poll is a great idea,” Wright said, but he said he understood Morse’s concerns.
Horton agreed to take the motion to transfer venue under advisement and said he would likely issue a decision “within the next week or so.”
The attorneys briefly discussed a defense motion for return of property concerning “electronics” and photographs seized from Simonds’ residence. Wright didn’t object to the motion. Investigators didn’t find any “contraband” on the electronics in question, he said.
