Prominent Waldoboro attorney Philip Cohen will serve jail time after pleading guilty in July to charges of disorderly conduct and violation of condition of release.
On Oct. 15 Superior Court Justice Roland Cole sentenced Cohen to 28 days in jail for the disorderly conduct concurrent with 30 days for the violation of condition of release (for which Cohen has already served two days), and $1,000 fines on each charge. Execution of the jail sentence was stayed until Monday, Oct. 20.
Cohen, 45, was originally arrested and charged with domestic violence assault at his North Waldoboro home late on Nov. 15, 2013.
Police responded to his home after a third party reportedly received a text message from a woman, the alleged victim, saying Cohen had punched her, blackened her eye, and possibly broken her nose.
The woman claimed to have fabricated the text message, but police observed bruising on her eyebrow and swelling on both her eyebrow and nose, according to the Waldoboro Police Department’s report on the incident.
The case, which was transferred to Kennebec County and was prosecuted by Androscoggin County Assistant District Attorney Andrew Matulis, was continued for months before Cohen ultimately pleaded guilty in July to the disorderly conduct charge and a charge of violation of condition of release for contact he had with the woman last December.
The domestic violence assault charge was dismissed and, according to the court transcript, Matulis said there were “significant proof issues” in the case.
According to police and court documents, the alleged victim of the assault had shown reluctance in discussing the incident at various times since the night of Nov. 15, and at one point, allegedly emailed Cohen’s defense attorney, indicating she was unwilling to return to Maine to testify.
As part of his plea deal, Cohen was given a deferred disposition, under which, if he complied with certain conditions – including committing no new criminal conduct – over the course of a year, he would serve no jail time and pay only $500 fines on the charges. If he violated the conditions, he was to be subject to the maximum penalties for both charges.
On July 12, the day after his plea deal went through, Cohen was alleged to have committed a new domestic violence assault on the same woman at a camp on Damariscotta Lake in Jefferson by pinning her to the bed and pushing his fist into her mouth.
After hearing testimony from both the woman and Cohen as well as several other witnesses Oct. 3, Roland Cole terminated Cohen’s deferred disposition due to the new criminal conduct. Cole said he was satisfied by a preponderance of the evidence Cohen assaulted the woman.
At Cohen’s sentencing Oct. 15, Matulis asked Cole to impose the maximum six month sentence on both charges.
“The state certainly realizes that it is an extraordinary request, but it is a request made under extraordinary circumstances,” Matulis said.
Matulis also alleged Cohen was violating his bail conditions “all over the place” prior to the plea deal, including traveling out of the country on two occasions to visit the woman, among other contact.
Walt McKee, Cohen’s defense attorney, said there were hundreds of attempts by the victim to contact Cohen during the time he was clearly not allowed to have contact with her.
“When they say this [contact] was Philip Cohen, and Philip Cohen alone doing all this or engaging in this conduct, I don’t know what they’re talking about,” McKee said.
McKee also read excerpts of letters submitted on Cohen’s behalf, which described him as “truly caring,” “a good family man,” an “active, loving father,” and an “attorney of great character and integrity.”
“That is not somebody, who in the measure of things, deserves the maximum possible sentence as recommended by the state,” McKee said, adding that Cohen had no previous criminal record.
McKee recommended a five day jail sentence for Cohen.
After a number of people spoke on his behalf, Cohen addressed the court himself and apologized to his family, friends, and the court.
“I violated bail conditions, and I did it a number of times. I understand it was wrong, but I was put in this position that I never could have fathomed before,” Cohen said. “On one hand, I had the court, the institution I had worked for, worked in, and respected. On the other hand, I had someone I cared a deal about, despite what was going on.”
“I made the decision to have the contact, I did, and I knew I was breaking the law when I did it. I violated bail conditions, and that’s why I’m here today,” Cohen said.
Before handing down Cohen’s sentence, Justice Cole said he took into account all the “good things,” like Cohen & Cohen’s “top notch” reputation as a law firm and Cohen’s role as a father, but also the “bad things.”
“The two convictions of disorderly conduct and violation of condition of release, they don’t spell out domestic violence, but there clearly was an assault component to the contact after he had done his deferred disposition plea within a very short period of time,” Cole said.
After the sentencing hearing, Matulis said the state will not be filing charges in the alleged July assault because he does not believe he can prove it beyond a reasonable doubt based on the hearing to terminate Cohen’s deferred disposition.
In regard to Cohen’s sentence, “We absolutely respect the court’s decision in this case,” Matulis said.
“We certainly had hoped for less, but it clearly could have been worse,” McKee said. “I thought the six months [request], to be kind, a bit of a stretch for the state.”
McKee said he anticipates some action by the Maine Board of Overseers of the Bar related to the case, but does not know what the action will be yet.
