Maine Public | By Ari Snider
PublishedJune 17, 2024 at 6:44 PM EDT
The suspect who was killed following an armed standoff with police in Auburn Saturday morning had been released from jail just days before, over the strong objections of the District Attorney's office. But the judge in the case ruled that Leein Hinkley's rights had been violated because the court system had failed to find an attorney to represent him.
Hinkley was being held without bail at the Androscoggin County Jail for a probation violation stemming from a 2012 conviction for elevated aggravated assault. Hinkley had pleaded guilty to stabbing both his then girlfriend and a passerby who tried to intervene, and was sentenced to 15 years in prison and four years of probation.
He was released early in 2023.
Hinkley was arrested again on May 24 of this year on new charges of domestic violence aggravated assault on another woman. She was granted a protection from abuse order.
But the state had not been able to find an attorney to take Hinkley's case. During a bail hearing on June 12, Judge Sarah Churchill said the state had violated Hinkley's 6th Amendment rights.
"It was discussed on the record how, you know, the state has had the ability to continue to investigate the case and gather evidenceand Mr. Hinckley, because he doesn't have a lawyer, does not," Churchill said during the hearing.
Maine's indigent legal defense services have been in turmoil for years. Two years ago, the ACLU of Maine filed suit, claiming Maine was violating the Sixth Amendment constitutional rights of low-income or indigent defendants by failing to provide them with attorneys. The problem shows no sign of letting up.
In May the ACLU reported that more than 140 were in custody without legal representation.
Assistant DA Patricia Mador acknowledged Hinkley's need for legal representation, but warned that releasing him could be dangerous, given his history of violence.
"The risk to public safety is extreme," Mador said.
Mador said the court should continue holding Hinkley without bail as it tried to find him an attorney.
But Judge Churchill said the situation put the courts in a bind.
"I understand the state's concern," she said. "It is a balancing analysis for the court to engage in to try to do something that is in the interest of justice for the system writ large, when it is clear that there has been a significant violation of one of Mr. Hinckley's rights."
Ultimately, Churchill decided to lower Hinkley's bail to $1,500. His conditions of release stipulated he remain under house arrest except for going to work or medical and legal appointments.
Mador requested that Hinkley be subject to electronic monitoring. Judge Churchill agreed, but an electronic monitoring device was not immediately available. Instead, Churchill instructed Hinkley to contact his probation officer within 48 hours of release and inquire about being placed under electronic monitoring.
The judge also forbade Hinkley from contacting a woman named Morgan Vellaro and from returning to Russell Avenue in Auburn.
"Just to be clear, Mr. Hinckley, the no contact with Miss Vellaro is in effect as of right now, just like it was in effect with the prior bail orders even before you leave the jail," Churchill asked, during the hearing. "Do you understand that?"
But at 1 a.m. on Saturday, according to Auburn's deputy chief of police Tim Cougle, Hinkley returned to Russell Avenue, with a gun.
"Auburn communications received a 911 call from a female subject living on Russell Ave. She reported that her significant other was in a fight with a male subject trying to break into the residence and that he was armed with a gun," Cougle said during a Saturday press conference.
Police said the woman who made the 911 call escaped through a window and fled down the street. The home, and another nearby, burned to the ground as police pursued Hinkley, who they said fired on officers. After an hours long standoff, Maine State Police officers located Hinkley with a firearm on the roof of a house on Russell Ave.
Police said officers shot and killed Hinkley at around 5:30 a.m.
Human remains were found in one of the destroyed houses, and will be sent to the state medical examiner's office to be identified and to determine a cause of death. A spokesperson for the Maine Department of Safety said the state fire marshal will not be able to determine the cause of the fires, given the extend of the damage.
The Maine State Trooper's Association and the Maine Fraternal Order of Police issued a statement Sunday laying blame for the incident on Judge Churchill, based on her decision to allow Hinkley to be released on bail.
A spokesperson for the Maine Judicial Branch Monday said in a statement that it is "dangerous and short-sighted to blame the court for the horrific acts because it obscures the real nature of the problem: an insufficient number of attorneys willing to represent the rights of the accused."
