A Bangor man was held without bail Friday after the Berkshire District Attorney’s Office said he was involved in a high-speed chase following the murder of a 39-year-old woman in Maine.

The Bangor Maine Police Department found Virginia Cookson, 39, of Bangor, dead in her residence on Sept. 25, according to a statement from the district attorney.

Two days later, the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner in Augusta, Maine ruled the death to be a homicide, which led to a warrant issued for Richard Keith Thorpe, 42 of Bangor.

Vice President Kamala Harris has received a tsunami of financial support since replacing President Biden at the top of the Democratic ticket, including in Maine, where she has raised 19 times more money than former President Donald Trump since she entered the race.

Harris raised nearly $1.8 million in Maine between July 21 and Aug. 31, according to finance reports posted this week by the Federal Elections Commission. That’s an average of $42,900 a day and accounts for more than half of the $3.4 million raised by both Biden and Harris in Maine over the past two years.

Those totals dwarf former President Donald Trump’s numbers, even though the former president has strong support in much of the state. Trump has twice before captured one of Maine’s four Electoral College votes by winning the 2nd Congressional District. The Republican nominee has raised only $800,000 in Maine leading up to the November election, including $93,200 since Harris became his opponent.

“In just a short time, Vice President Harris’ candidacy has galvanized a history-making, broad, and diverse coalition – with the type of enthusiasm, energy, and grit that wins close elections,” Harris-Walz 2024 Campaign Manager Julie Chavez Rodriguez said in a news release this month.

The Trump campaign did not respond to questions about his fundraising here.

The Democratic ticket’s fundraising has already surpassed the $2.8 million Biden raised here in 2020, when Trump raised $1.3 million. Through the end of August, she had raised $669 million nationwide to Trump’s $306.8 million.

Harris’ fundraising has been strong ever since she entered the race, leading to concern among Republicans that they will not have enough money to defend against attacks or fund a strong ground game. In August, Harris’ campaign raised four times the amount taken in by Trump.

However, the Trump campaign has the support of well-funded political action committees, or super PACs, which can raise and spend unlimited amounts of money. The outside groups are still raking in money from wealthy donors and are expected to play a big role, especially in the half dozen or so swing states expected to decide the election, the New York Times reported.

“Make no mistake: This election will be hard-fought and hard-won,” Chavez Rodriguez said. “But with the undeniable, organic support we are seeing, we are making sure we are doing everything possible to mobilize our coalition to defeat Donald Trump once and for all.”

Ronald Schmidt Jr., a professor and chair of the political science department at the University of Southern Maine, cautioned against reading too much into the fundraising totals here when trying predict the outcome of the election.

In 2016, for example, Hillary Clinton outspent Trump – $564 million to $333 million – and still lost the election. And despite raising $286,000 in Maine, compared to Clinton’s $1.7 million, Trump made history in Maine by winning one of the state’s four electoral votes. It was the first time the state had split its votes.

“The Clinton campaign spent more than the Trump campaign did back in 2016, so it’s not like the more money, the more guaranteed you are of a victory,” Schmidt said. “But campaign finance is incredibly important.”

Schmidt said the surge of donations since Harris took over the campaign may reflect the doubts that some donors had about Biden and a renewed enthusiasm for Harris, who could become the first female and first woman of color to become president.

“There is a way that money follows the impression of victory,” Schmidt said. “So that (surge) tells me there are people who are either pro-Democratic Party or anti-Trump or anti-GOP who maybe were wavering about giving before because they thought it would be – you might call it – a bad investment but now see a real path to victory with Harris.”

About three-quarters of Harris’ funding is coming from coastal counties in the more progressive 1st Congressional District. More than half of Harris’ donations through August, or $1.76 million, came from Cumberland County alone. Trump’s fundraising is basically split between the congressional districts, but he has outraised Harris in interior northern counties.

Harris’ campaign says 13 of its 24 field offices are located in the 2nd Congressional District, which could represent a key electoral vote in an extremely tight election. Though unlikely, analysts say, if Trump wins the swing states of Pennsylvania, North Carolina and Georgia, a win in Maine’s 2nd District could get him to 270 Electoral College votes, the minimum needed to become president.

A poll by the University of New Hampshire in Augusta surprised many, showing that Harris is running even with Trump in the 2nd District. But a subsequent poll released by Pan Atlantic Research this month showed Trump up by 7 points.

Harris’ campaign appears to have capitalized on key campaign events, raising $172,000 in Maine on the day she took over Biden’s campaign coffers and $85,600 the following day. That was up significantly from Biden’s final day as a candidate, when he received only $6,385.

On July 25, when second gentleman Doug Emhoff held a fundraiser in Falmouth only days after Biden endorsed Harris, the campaign brought in $56,000. It’s unclear how much of that is attributed to that event.

Her campaign also cashed in after announcing Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz as her running mate, bringing in $127,000 from Maine donors on Aug. 6 alone.

Maine Democrats were certainly feeling the joy – a central theme of the Harris campaign – during the Democratic convention in Chicago, raising nearly $155,000 from Aug. 19-22.

And Harris saw another surge in donations on Aug. 25, receiving more than $136,500 on the same day she announced that she had raised an eye-popping $540 million nationally in the first month of her candidacy.

Mark Brewer, professor and chair of the political science department at the University of Maine Orono, said the fundraising totals reflect an enthusiasm gap among donors.

“I think this tells us two big things,” Brewer said in an email. “Harris has generated a lot of enthusiasm among donors in Maine; (and) Democratic donors are much more motivated than Republican donors in Maine this cycle.”

Trump, meanwhile, has struggled to raise money here, though he received a small surge of donations after narrowly surviving an assassination attempt in July when he was shot in the ear at a rally in Pennsylvania. From July 13-20, Trump outraised Biden in Maine, $50,000 to $46,000.

Trump also had a relatively strong surge after his debate victory over Biden, raising nearly $64,000 from June 27 to July 13. That was still less than the nearly $200,000 raised by Biden during that period, however.

Trump did not see any influx of campaign donations in Maine after announcing Ohio Sen. JD Vance as his running mate or after the Republican National Convention.

Schmidt said Harris probably needs the campaign money more than the former president, in part because she is still introducing herself to some voters.

“Trump of course can count on a huge amount of free advertising,” Schmidt said of the Republican’s ability to dominate the news cycle. “Everyone in the nation knows him already. There are people who say they are still undecided about how to vote, but there are very few people who say they don’t know who Trump is or what to expect from him.”

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A judge has scheduled a two-week trial in December to address Maine’s indigent defense crisis, nearly three years after a civil rights organization first filed a lawsuit over the issue.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Maine is suing the state, alleging that it is violating the constitutional rights of criminal defendants who can’t afford legal counsel, who are entitled to a lawyer at the state’s expense.

At least 800 people accused of crimes were waiting for a court-appointed lawyer, according to an ACLU analysis of court data on Monday. A quarter of those people were in jail. Roughly 670 had been waiting more than 10 days for a lawyer, according to the ACLU, and more than 450 had been waiting more than a month.

That’s because the state does not have enough attorneys, mostly private lawyers, taking on court-appointed work.

At trial, the ACLU will ask the court to declare that Maine is violating both state and federal law by not providing enough lawyers to the people it charges.

Carol Garvan, the legal director at ACLU of Maine, talks with Zachary Heiden, the chief counsel at the ACLU of Maine, during a hearing with Superior Justice Michaela Murphy in Kennebec County Superior Court in September 2023. Brianna Soukup/Staff Photographe

“We will be arguing that when people are waiting for weeks, sometimes even for months, to get an attorney, then important evidence is lost in their cases,” said the ACLU’s legal director, Carol Garvan. “Their cases can’t be investigated. Important witnesses’ memories fade, cases cannot move forward. Those kinds of delays undermine the basic constitutional right to a fair trial, which is what the right to counsel is all about.”

A spokesperson for the Office of the Maine Attorney General, which is representing the state defendants, including the Maine Commission on Public Defense Services, said their attorneys do not comment on pending litigation.

The parties have until Oct. 4 to decide whether any of the trial will involve a jury. And they have until Nov. 15 to finalize witness lists. Garvan said they were unable to share a tentative list Friday, but it’s likely their case will involve experts and people who have been affected by the crisis.

She mentioned firsthand accounts of people who have lost their jobs and housing while waiting in jail; one person missed their child’s birthday and wasn’t even able to call.

“They’re sitting there, knowing that the whole weight of the prosecution, of the state, is being brought against them,” Garvan said. “And they have no one on their side. … They don’t know what their rights are, they don’t know who to call to understand what is even happening in their case, and they don’t know how long this is going to last, because it could be a few days or it could be months before they get counsel.”

YEARS IN THE MAKING

The ACLU of Maine filed its lawsuit over Maine’s indigent defense system in March 2022.

At the time, the ACLU’s chief concerns were the quality of legal representation provided to defendants – they alleged private lawyers, overseen by the commission, weren’t communicating with their clients or spending enough time on their cases.

But then in November 2023, Maine’s courts acknowledged some defendants weren’t getting any legal representation at all. The number of lawyers available to accept new criminal cases in various counties has plummeted, leaving hundreds of constitutionally entitled defendants in limbo.

Superior Court Justice Michaela Murphy presides during a hearing at Kennebec County Superior Court in September 2023. Brianna Soukup/Staff Photographe

After the parties attempted to settle their original lawsuit several times, Superior Justice Michaela Murphy ordered the ACLU and the commission to go to trial and raise a case that addresses the state’s current reality. That meant convincing Murphy to also let them sue the state of Maine and Attorney General Aaron Frey, whose office oversees prosecutions of homicides and works with district attorneys.

Murphy will order a second trial, to address the quality of indigent representation, at a later time.

The ACLU was granted class action status, meaning they represent the interests of all criminal defendants who are entitled to a lawyer.

On Thursday, Murphy agreed the class includes anyone who is eligible for a court-appointed lawyer, but who is still unrepresented after their first appearance or arraignment. That includes people facing felony charges and misdemeanors.

A ‘WHOLE STATE’ APPROACH

Even if the court were to agree that the state is violating constitutional rights, it’s still unclear what any relief would look like.

“Ultimately the purposes of this lawsuit is to hold the state accountable,” said Garvan. “That means there’s going to need to be a sort of ‘whole state’ approach.”

One potential remedy, said Garvan, is to release people who don’t have counsel from jail or dismiss their charges without prejudice.

Last year, a Maine Supreme Judicial Court justice rejected a request from a pair of lawyers who do indigent defense work to create a statewide process in which unrepresented defendants are released from jail after seven days. A similar rule is in place in Oregon.

Some Maine judges have lowered bail for unrepresented defendants and one has ordered a charge be dismissed, but this varies from case to case and county to county.

Prosecutors and victim advocates have voiced concerns around this practice and questioned what the commission and the courts are doing to prioritize appointing counsel in cases where serious violence is being alleged.

Many have welcomed the opening of public defense offices around the state as movement in the right direction. In Kennebec County, where the first brick-and-mortar office is in full swing, only seven defendants were in need of a lawyer on Wednesday, according to data compiled by the courts.

But a majority of cases are still being handled by private attorneys.

“It is both not going to fix things immediately and it is not a silver bullet,” said Garvan. “I don’t think there’s anyone who thinks that will automatically fix everything, but I think that’s been one positive (change).”

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