An Ellsworth man has been found not guilty of attempted murder in a December 2023 incident in which he exchanged gunfire with Ellsworth police. But he was found guilty of other charges.
Jeffrey S. Paine, 69, was charged with attempted murder and other charges after a gun he was holding went off as local police officers were standing outside his door at his Water Street apartment on Dec. 23, 2023. Police had gone to his apartment to arrest him on an outstanding warrant and, after Paine opened the door to see who had knocked, they saw him holding a gun down at his side.
Captain David Lord attempted to push the door wide open with his foot when they believed Paine was trying to shut the door. That is when Paine’s gun discharged, firing a bullet through the door and into the wall across the hallway.
Ellsworth police returned fire, wounding Paine in the arm and, after determining that Paine had put the weapon down, they warned him, then used a stun gun on him and took him into custody.
The incident has garnered attention not just for the danger it posed to Ellsworth police and other residents of Paine’s apartment building, but for what happened in the hours after it occurred.
The shooting resulted months later in Glenn Moshier, who at the time held positions both as Ellsworth’s city manager and police chief, being fired from both jobs. Moshier was placed on leave as police chief days after the shooting and, following an investigation, was determined to likely have been intoxicated when he found out about the shooting and reported back to work that same night.
Judge Terence Harrigan ruled on Friday that the discharge of Paine’s .357 Magnum revolver was unintentional, and likely was caused by Lord’s attempt to forcefully shove the door open.
But Harrigan determined that Paine’s conduct was reckless and that Paine was guilty of reckless conduct with a dangerous weapon. Conviction for the crime, a class C felony, is punishable by up to five years in prison and a $5,000 fine.
Paine chose to have a bench trial on the charges and to have a judge decide whether he was guilty, rather than a jury. Paine is scheduled to be sentenced on Thursday, July 17.
Police had gone to Paine’s apartment the night of the shooting after another resident at his apartment complex called police to report that Paine was harassing her. After getting the complaint, police determined that an arrest warrant had been issued for Paine for an incident two months earlier, after he had been pulled over by an Ellsworth police officer but refused to cooperate and told the officer “go f___ yourself.”
Police did not arrest Paine in the earlier incident because they suspected he may be armed and they did not want the situation to escalate to a point where Paine could put officers or the public at risk of harm.
After Paine was arrested in December, he also was charged with failure to stop for an officer as a result of the September 2023 traffic stop, and with criminal threatening with a dangerous weapon in connection with the shooting.
Harrigan also found Paine guilty of the failure to stop for an officer charge, but acquitted him of the criminal threatening charge.
Paine’s defense attorney, Will Ashe, said after Harrigan read the verdict that was “very pleased” with the judge’s decision. He said he was not in full agreement over the reckless conduct conviction, but that finding Paine not guilty of attempted murder or criminal threatening was the right decision to make.
“It was my impression that this case was overcharged from the very beginning,” Ashe said.
Hancock County District Attorney Bob Granger, the prosecutor in the case, said he has “no regrets” in seeking the attempted murder charge against Paine, given the danger the officers faced from Paine’s actions. He said he “fully expected” a conviction on the reckless conduct charge, and that he respects Harrigan’s ruling.
“This case is a prime example of the dangerous situations our law enforcement officers routinely face far too often in their work,” Granger said.
