Update: Corey Pitcher found not guilty of charges

The second day of trial for a Nobleboro man accused of sexually assaulting a teenager 15 years ago began with a dispute over discovery.

The second day of trial for Corey Pitcher, 46, was Tuesday, Sept. 1, at the Lincoln County Superior Court and featured audio clips from Pitcher's February 2014 arrest as well as another audio clip that allegedly wasn't presented in discovery.

Pitcher's lawyer, Matthew Bowe, said an audio clip from the victim's husband made to the Knox County dispatchers, which was presented Tuesday, was not given to him before the trial started. Bowe said had he been able to listen to the clip, which featured the victim's husband in 2014 making a complaint about sexual abuse that was alleged to have happened in 1999 to 2001, he would have changed his approach.

Bowe asked the court to dismiss the case due to the discovery infraction, but Judge Daniel Billings said because it was a jury-waived trial he preferred that the trial continue.

“It's a difficult issue to grapple with,” he said. “I can see how it might have affected your strategy, but the court has to take in to account the quality of the information before taking an extreme measure such as dismissal.

“Frankly, discovery (issues) are common, but I don't believe the situation rises to the level of dismissal.”

One of the early problems on Tuesday was the nature of the reports that were first made. Because the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office was the third law enforcement agency after the Rockland Police and Maine State Troopers, it complicated the matter, Billings said.

Billings added that it would be possible to postpone the trial until Bowe had a chance to rethink his approach if the new tape did affect it.

District Attorney Geoffrey Rushlau said it wouldn't be fair to the victim, who testified in August, if the trial was delayed.

“The courts have to give some consideration to the victims,” he said. “To pull the plug on this case is grossly unfair.”

Both sides eventually agreed and the trial continued Tuesday with an audio clip and testimony of Lincoln County Sheriff’s Det. Terry Michaud. The audio tape included Pitcher denying the contact vehemently, and calling the claims unfounded and that the only evidence was hearsay.

Bowe reiterated that point by saying the evidence was lacking.

“The highest level of evidence would be video evidence, where you can see the crime being committed,” he said. “We're at the lowest level of evidence. This case is incredibly lacking and there's been no time period or context.”

Billings said that in some cases the jury is told that a credible witness can lead to a conviction, and in the victim's earlier testimony there was enough to give the state's case plausibility.

“I have to look at all the evidence, and your argument goes after the weight of that evidence,” he said to Bowe. “In a case like this, there has been enough detail in regard to the events that there is enough evidence to continue.”

The rest of the day's trial featured friends of the victim and Pitcher's and the victim's relatives, who provided background on the victim and Pitcher's relationship. Three of the witnesses, Laura Ruffner, Jillian Paradis and a minor described the relationship between the two as father-daughter, and all denied having heard of the alleged assaults until Pitcher was arrested by Michaud in 2014.

The trial will continue Wednesday and is expected to continue through the week.