SKOWHEGAN — A Pittston man accused of sending the Kennebec County sheriff threatening messages over several years is set to have his case heard before a judge this week.

The trial of Nicholas J. Worthing, 37, who is charged with one Class C felony count of stalking, is scheduled to begin Tuesday morning at the Somerset County Superior Court.

Nicholas J. Worthing, left, listens as his defense attorney Jeremy Pratt speaks during a 2023 hearing at the Capital Judicial Center in Augusta. Worthing goes on trial Tuesday at the Somerset County Courthouse, accused of stalking the Kennebec County sheriff, after an agreement was reached to move the case out of Kennebec County. Joe Phelan/Kennebec Journal file

Worthing’s case has continued in court for more than three years as he has gone through nearly a dozen court-appointed defense attorneys and various efforts to get the charges dismissed and the case moved out of Kennebec County.

Prosecutors dropped the more severe of two stalking charges, a Class B count, in March 2024. They also agreed last year to move the case out of Kennebec County, after previously objecting to a request to move it.

Judges, meanwhile, have continued to appoint attorneys for Worthing, even after one judge warned Worthing after appointing his 10th attorney that he was at risk of forfeiting his right to counsel.

Worthing has waived his right to trial by jury, so a judge will determine the facts and the verdict at a bench trial.

Worthing’s current defense attorney, Ryan Rutledge of the Skowhegan law firm Mills, Shay, Lexier & Talbot, did not immediately return a message left with his office and an email sent Monday.

Worthing, who pleaded guilty to misdemeanor-level stalking of a state trooper in 2018, was arrested in August 2021 on the Class C stalking charge, court records show.

He posted $10,000 cash bail, and a Kennebec County grand jury indicted him later that year on the Class B and Class C counts, court records show.

In both counts, the indictment alleged that Worthing engaged in conduct “that would cause a reasonable person to fear bodily injury or to fear bodily relation to a close relation,” between Jan. 8, 2017, and Aug. 3, 2021.

In the Class B count, which prosecutors dismissed last year citing  prosecutorial discretion, that conduct was directed at Kennebec County Sheriff Ken Mason and Maine State Police Trooper Eric Verhille.

In the Class C count, the remaining charge, Mason is listed as the subject of Worthing’s alleged conduct.

Maine State Police Lt. Patrick Hood wrote in an affidavit supporting the 2021 arrest warrant for Worthing that Worthing was sending threatening messages to law enforcement officers via the Kennebec County Sheriff’s Office Facebook page. Dozens of profanity-filled messages containing threats were attached to the affidavit. Many make claims that Mason and other law enforcement officers have molested children.

One, sent after police served Worthing with a cease harassment notice, reads, in part: “Next cop I see I’m going to murder.”

Mason, the sheriff, said at the time he was not sure why Worthing lashed out, other than that he does not like law enforcement officers. Worthing’s conduct crossed the line of protected speech under the First Amendment, Mason said.

Attorneys for Worthing, however, have argued on multiple occasions that the messages are protected speech under the First Amendment and have tried to get the charges dismissed.

In August 2024, Liam Harrigan, Worthing’s attorney at the time, argued for the dismissal of the remaining Class C count, writing that the messages Worthing sent to Mason did not constitute “true threats.” Harrigan also argued that the alleged conduct did not constitute stalking as defined in state statute.

Court records show Superior Court Chief Justice Robert E. Mullen denied the motion to dismiss the charge in November. Mullen also denied a separate request to prohibit prosecutors from using messages that do not name Mason explicitly as evidence.

Also at issue has been where the case will be tried, given Mason’s position as Kennebec County sheriff. In Maine, cases are generally prosecuted in the county where the alleged crimes occurred.

In April 2023, Jeremy Pratt, Worthing’s attorney at that time, argued that a judge in Kennebec County overseeing the trial may be biased because they may be familiar with Mason and other officers involved in the case.

Prosecutors disagreed. Superior Court Justice Daniel Mitchell, then a district court judge, said he was an example of a judge presiding in a Kennebec County court at the time who had no connection with the involved officers.

Mitchell denied the request to change the venue.

In May 2024, though, both sides agreed to request the case be moved to Somerset County, recognizing prejudice against Worthing in Kennebec County. It’s unclear, based on court filings, why prosecutors changed course.

Worthing objected to moving the case, while prosecutors said they had no issue with that venue, according to court filings. Kennebec and Somerset counties both fall under the prosecutorial jurisdiction of District Attorney Maeghan Maloney.

As for Worthing’s various defense attorneys, many have cited in their requests to withdraw from the case that either Worthing requested it or because of a breakdown in their relationship with him. Two wrote in filings that Worthing filed complaints against them with the Maine Commission on Indigent Legal Services.

In an order explaining his decision to appoint Worthing’s 10th attorney in November, Mullen wrote that the case has a “somewhat complicated and problematic history.”

“Some of the reasons why Defendant has had ten attorneysare due to circumstances beyond his control; however, Defendant has had competent counsel representing his interests in this matter, and has chosen to terminate their services on multiple occasions, including his ninth attorney,” Mullen wrote.

“This will now stop, or absent extraordinary circumstances the Defendant may well be faced with the reality of representing himself in this trial, albeit with standby counsel to assist Defendant if called upon to do so.”

The attorney Mullen appointed then, Thomas A. Tilton, withdrew a few weeks later, citing Worthing’s request.