AUGUSTA — The case against a Pittston man accused of stalking a Kennebec County sheriff and a state trooper will continue in Kennebec County District Court despite concerns from his attorney that the judge who will decide the outcome could be unfairly influenced.

Nicholas J. Worthing, 35, was indicted in 2021 on two counts of stalking Sheriff Ken Mason and state Trooper Eric Verhille via hundreds of messages on Facebook. One of the counts alleged Worthing also targeted other law enforcement officers in messages sent to the Sheriff’s Office’s Facebook account. Some of the comments reportedly mentioned shooting officers and threatening their families.

At the Capital Judicial Center Thursday, Worthing’s attorney, Jeremy Pratt, sought to have the case dismissed. He argued state prosecutors had not alleged anything specific enough to justify a stalking charge, which District Court Judge Daniel Mitchell rejected.

Pratt also sought to have the trial moved out of Kennebec County. He argued judges who regularly work in the court system in that county are likely to know officers mentioned in the messages and could be influenced by those relationships, making them unable to oversee a fair trial.

Trials typically take place in the counties where the alleged crimes occurred, and it is uncommon for them to be moved to other courts.

“I think judges that sit in Augusta have a closer connection to sheriffs than even jurors would,” said Pratt, who also filed a waiver of the right to a jury trial, meaning the case would be decided by a judge, not a jury. “A judge that knows these individuals may be unduly influenced by that. If (a judge) sits here regularly, it may cause hesitation, even subconsciously.”

Deputy District Attorney Frayla Tarpinian countered there is no evidence a judge would be biased simply because they are in Kennebec County. She noted if a judge had a bias or conflict in the case, they would disclose that and step down if necessary. And that many of the judges come from other counties, and would be no more or less likely to know Mason or other law enforcement officers involved in the case.

Mitchell, listed on the Maine Judicial Branch’s website as based out of Farmington, cited himself as an example of a judge on a case in Kennebec County who does not have a relationship with the officers involved in the case. He said he’s never even heard the names of the officers involved in the case.

Mitchell denied the motion to change the venue.

Under Maine law, stalking is defined, in part, as conduct “that would cause a reasonable person to fear bodily injury or to fear bodily injury to a close relation.”

Mason said in an interview, after Worthing was indicted in 2021, that Worthing had sent multiple messages calling Mason names and then sent threatening messages involving Mason’s wife.

An arrest affidavit filed by state Trooper Patrick Hood states Worthing sent a message to the Sheriff’s Office that contained “a message of violence from Nicholas Worthing that named Kennebec County Sheriff Ken Mason, Trooper Eric Verhille, and I.”

The profanity-filled message, received in August, read in part, “Next cop I see I’m going to murder.” It also mentioned the state’s chief legal counsel, Cindy Montgomery, later adding, “In my opinion, you all deserve a bullet in your head.” Worthing also alleged they “would not help a father against a child molester.”

Tarpinian said Worthing has sent or posted hundreds of messages on his Facebook page, on the sheriff’s office Facebook page, and through Facebook’s messaging system.

She said the sheer volume of the messages, sent over a couple of years, is part of what makes Worthing’s actions stalking, versus protected, allowed speech under the First Amendment.

“It’s very clear he’s talking about killing law enforcement officers in these messages,” she said. “I can’t identify that this line is stalking, and this line is not stalking. Because it’s not just the content of the messages. It’s the volume and the day after day after day.”

In 2018, Worthing pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 90 days in jail after police say he sent a barrage of crude and threatening Facebook messages to family members of Verhille, who had arrested him in 2017.

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