Settlement Conference Date Set For Case Against Local Police
Charge had occurred outside conservative judicial activist's Leonard Leo's home
BAR HARBOR AND MOUNT DESERT—The case between a local Bar Harbor man who was initially charged for disorderly conduct in July 2022 and two local police officers has a date set for a settlement conference in early November.
The case garnered national attention, primarily because it involved conservative activist Leonard Leo who has a home in Northeast Harbor. Northeast Harbor incidents are often covered by officers from both Mount Desert and Bar Harbor. At the time of the incident, Jim Willis was the chief of both departments. The officers are part of a shared police force for both towns.
Eli Durand-McDonnell’s suit against Sgt. Kevin Edgecomb of the Mount Desert Police Department and Officer Nathan Formby of the Bar Harbor Police Department stems from an incident at the Northeast Harbor home of Leo. The lawsuit was filed in federal court earlier this summer.
A magistrate judge had set a tentative trial date for the lawsuit for Durand-McDonnell. Durand-McDonnell has said that island police officers violated his First Amendment rights.
The suit also states that officers broke the man’s Maine Civil Rights Act as well as the First and Fourteenth Amendments of the Constitution.
Leo had said that Durand-McDonnell cursed him and his family on a Northeast Harbor Street on July 31. Durand-McDonnell was arrested shortly afterward while protesting outside Leo’s home.
Durand-McDonnell received a charge of disorderly conduct. Hancock County District Attorney Robert Granger dismissed the charge in May.
Disorderly conduct is a misdemeanor offense.
The lawsuit alleges that the arrest was illegal because the officers did not witness the misdemeanor charge, yet arrested him, and that the arrest was a violation of Durand-McDonnell’s freedom of speech. He was protesting Leo’s advocacy and promotion through the Federalist Society.
Our earlier stories, linked below, have full filings in pdf form.
