PARIS — A judge on Wednesday denied bail to a Connecticut man charged with murder in the stabbing death of another Connecticut man last month at the Fryeburg Fairgrounds.
Carlos Negron Oxford County Sheriff’s Office photo
Oxford County Superior Court Justice Thomas McKeon also found there was probable cause to believe Carlos A. Negron, 46, committed the knowing or intentional murder of Anderson Gomes, 31, on Oct. 13.
Both men worked at a carnival at the fairgrounds that had been in operation during the Fryeburg Fair a week earlier.
Negron’s attorney, Verne Paradie, argued that a police affidavit filed in support of the complaint against Negron failed to show his client murdered the victim knowingly or intentionally.
Paradie argued instead that Negron was seeking to defend others or himself when he stabbed Gomes.
In the case of murder, which is a former capital crime in Maine, judges are given the discretion to allow bail, but a defendant doesn’t have the right to bail as with other alleged crimes.
Paradie argued that because the affidavit, at best, only supports probable cause of the crime of manslaughter, which is not a former capital crime, Negron should be allowed bail.
But McKeon determined that the affidavit did, in fact, support probable cause to charge Negron with murder and that Paradie’s defense arguments can be used a trial, but didn’t hold sway at the bail hearing phase of the case.
Assistant Attorney General Lisa Bogue argued Wednesday that the judge didn’t have the discretion, in this case, to grant bail because Negron would pose “an extreme flight risk,” having no ties to Maine and given his status as a transient in Connecticut. He also had a history of failure to appear in court, she said.
Bogue also said there is “clear and convincing evidence” that Negron would pose a danger to the community if allowed to be free on bail.
Negron told police during an interview he had stabbed people before this incident and admitted: “he shouldn’t carry a knife because that’s what he does.”
Paradie countered that Negron would surrender his passport and live with the mother of his young child at her home in Massachusetts. He would be willing to report to a law enforcement agency on a regular basis.
He hasn’t lived outside of New England, Paradie said, and “there’s no indication he would, all of a sudden, just disappear.”
The court could impose restrictions barring Negron from having alcohol and weapons, Paradie said.
Negron hasn’t had a criminal conviction in the past 16 years other than a vehicular violation five years ago, Paradie said.
McKeon said Bogue had shown that “there’s a substantial risk that Mr. Nagron won’t appear for future court appearances if he’s released on bail,” given his indeterminate residential status.
In addition, McKeon said, “I also found in the affidavit some evidence from Mr. Negron’s own words that he basically carries a knife and . . . he carries a knife for the purposes of fighting for self-defense. But I do feel as though there is a risk to the public.”
He had apparently been drinking and had become belligerent, witnesses said.
One witness said she’d heard Gomes had punched a man in the face. That witness said she then saw Gomes on top of the man. After someone pulled Gomes off the man, he continued to behave in a belligerent and confrontational manner when Negron came from behind a trailer and appeared to punch Gomes, the witness said.
A witness heard Negron tell Gomes: “Don’t f— with my family,” according to the affidavit.
That same witness then heard Gomes’ girlfriend yell that he had been stabbed. Gomes, “continued to walk around in a belligerent, argumentative manner,” then sat down on the steps of a camper, the witness told investigators.
A witness told police she’d heard Gomes had been unhappy that his girlfriend had been flirting with Negron.
When interviewed, Negron said he’d been drinking that night with Gomes, who left and returned later with “an attitude.”
The two started throwing punches that missed.
Negron told investigators “he does not remember stabbing Andy and that it was a blur.”
He said he kept his knife inside a black pouch clipped to his pants. Negron told investigators he left the scene of the fight and threw the knife into a field.
The office of the Chief Medical Examiner determined the cause of Gomes’ death was due to multiple sharp force wounds and ruled his death a homicide.
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