A Wiscasset Superior Court judge has granted, in part, a motion to suppress key evidence in the case of former Great Salt Bay Community School teacher Peter Simonds.
According to a Jan. 28 order by Justice Andrew Horton, the inadmissible evidence includes a written statement in which Simonds confessed to “inappropriately” touching three female students in his fourth grade classroom and a photocopy of a page from the school’s yearbook on which Simonds circled photographs of the students involved.
According to the order, part of an interview between Simonds and Damariscotta Police Chief Steve Drake is admissible.
The 23-page order focuses on the issue of police custody on March 18, 2010, the day Simonds resigned from his fourth grade teaching position.
Although police didn’t arrest Simonds at the school, Horton cited case law to establish the existence of custody.
According to the order, “‘A person, who is not subject to formal arrest, may be in custody if a reasonable person standing in the shoes of [the defendant would] have felt he or she was not at liberty to terminate the interrogation and leave or if there was a formal arrest or restraint on freedom of movement of the degree associated with formal arrest.'”
According to Horton, custody began about 15 minutes into Simonds’ interview with Drake, when Simonds asked to, “‘get a glass of water'” and Drake denied the request, instead instructing Detective Richard Alexander to bring Simonds a glass of water.
“A reasonable person in the Defendant’s position would believe that if the police were not willing to interrupt the interview briefly so he could get a glass of water, they plainly would not let him terminate the interview entirely and depart,” Horton wrote.
As a result of the determination of custody and despite the fact, acknowledged by Horton, that Drake repeatedly told Simonds he was free to leave before and after his request for water, Horton ruled that the remainder of the oral interview and the oral and written evidence gathered after the interview but before Simonds left the school is inadmissible.
“‘Statements made by a person subjected to custodial interrogation who is not first given Miranda warnings are inadmissible against that person at trial,'” Horton wrote, quoting case law. “At no time during this entire sequence of events was [Simonds] advised of his Miranda rights.”
The order addresses at length what Horton referred to as Drake’s “relentless” interrogation of Simonds as a factor weighing against the prosecution.
“[Drake] repeatedly interrupted or ignored [Simonds’] denials or expressions of discomfort,” Horton wrote. “Also, [Drake] intimidated [Simonds] at various times, both by telling [Simonds] he ‘should be’ scared, and by moving his chair uncomfortably close to [Simonds], and putting his knee between [Simonds’] legs.”
The “tone and tenor” of Drake’s questioning, Drake’s “intrusion” into Simonds’ “personal space'” and Alexander’s “silent presence” all “lent objective support to [Simonds’] subjective belief that he was not free to terminate the interview,” Horton wrote.
Later, near the end of the order, Horton called Drake’s and Alexander’s actions “understandable from an investigatory perspective” but, according to Horton, Simonds “is not required to prove any wrongdoing on their part.”
The requirement of a Miranda warning, Horton wrote in his conclusion, “is a constitutional safeguard rooted in the simple fact that incriminating statements may be suspect in terms of their truthfulness and reliability if they are made under compulsion, and should not be used in a trial in which liberty is at stake.”
The prosecutor, Assistant District Attorney Andrew Wright, did not return a message left Feb. 2. Simonds’ attorney, Rick Morse, also did not return a message left the same day.
Simonds faces nine counts of Unlawful Sexual Contact, a Class B crime punishable by up to 10 years incarceration and a $20,000 fine, and 13 counts of Unlawful Sexual Touching, a Class D crime punishable by up to 364 days incarceration and a $2000 fine. Simonds’ indictment names seven alleged victims.
Simonds admitted to “inappropriately” touching three female students – two on as many as 10 occasions – in his written statement.
The inadmissible evidence also includes statements Simonds made to his wife, Diane Simonds, a kindergarten teacher at Great Salt Bay Community School, in the presence of witnesses.
According to the Nov. 4 testimony of Great Salt Bay Principal Jeff Boston, Peter Simonds, faced with the initial disbelief of Diane Simonds, insistently confirmed his guilt.
“He said, ‘I’ve crossed the line.’ He stood up. He said, ‘I’ve touched the girls here and here’ and he touched his chest and grabbed his crotch,” Boston said.
Alexander’s testimony described a similar exchange. Peter and Diane Simonds recalled similar dialogue but Diane Simonds said Peter touched his inner thigh instead of grabbing his crotch.
Peter Simonds’ attorney, Rick Morse, has also filed a motion to sever – a request to separate the seven alleged victims into seven separate trials. Horton’s order didn’t reference the motion and, at press time, no order on the motion had been filed.
