Authorities in Somerset County are considering charges against Clifford “CJ” Warren, who attacked Jason Servil during Servil’s sentencing last week in Skowhegan, above. Servil was sentenced to 45 years in prison for the murder of Warren’s sister, 20-year-old Alice Abbott of Skowhegan. Anna Chadwick/Morning Sentinel

SKOWHEGAN — The man who attempted to assault his sister’s killer in a Skowhegan court last week could face criminal charges for his role in the incident, pending further investigation into the rare case of courtroom violence.

Clifford “CJ” Warren, 34, of Winterport, was issued a summons by the Somerset County Sheriff’s Office for a charge of assault following his attempted attack on 20-year-old Jason Servil in Somerset County Superior Court, authorities said.

Warren is scheduled to be arraigned Aug. 7, according to District Attorney Maeghan Maloney, whose prosecutorial district covers Kennebec and Somerset counties.

As in all criminal matters, it will ultimately be up to Maloney’s office whether to prosecute Warren on the assault charge, dismiss the charge, or bring additional charges.

As of Wednesday, the district attorney’s office had not yet filed a complaint — the official charging document — in court because law enforcement is still investigating the incident, Maloney said.

“My understanding is that the sheriff’s office is waiting for the supplemental reports from everyone who was present,” Maloney said. “And that’s good law enforcement. You do want to wait and get all of the information before you submit a case.”

The district attorney’s office will consider all of the circumstances, Maloney said, including that Warren was the family member of a murder victim and that the alleged assault occurred at the end of an emotional sentencing hearing.

Jason Servil, 20, is sentenced in Skowhegan court Friday to 45 years in prison for the murder of Alice Abbott. Anna Chadwick/Morning Sentinel

The incident occurred April 12, after Superior Court Chief Justice Robert Mullen sentenced Servil, of Boston, to 45 years in prison for the murder of Alice Abbott, Warren’s sister, in Skowhegan.

According to investigators, Servil, who was indicted in August 2022, stabbed the 20-year-old Abbott 99 times. The two had a brief relationship and Abbott had told Servil she wanted to end it just before the killing.

Mullen also imposed a 10-year, concurrent prison sentence for Servil’s assault of Nick Rice, who Servil attacked at Abbott’s residence before he killed Abbott.

After Mullen delivered the sentence, Servil’s defense attorney, Jeremy Pratt, asked for a sidebar conversation with Mullen. That’s when Warren jumped the bar — the barrier that separates the public from the judge, attorneys, and defendant in the courtroom — and surged toward Servil, who was seated.

A county corrections officer, Maine State Police officers present in the courtroom, and court marshals stopped Warren. The corrections officer used a stun gun to subdue Warren before he was escorted out in handcuffs.

“From the briefing I have received thus far … I would say there was an appropriate use of force to neutralize the situation,” said Somerset County Sheriff Dale Lancaster, whose office is one of two county sheriff’s offices in Maine that provides court security instead of state judicial marshals.

During the melee, some members of Abbott’s family also stood up from their seats, including Abbott’s mother, who is also named Alice Abbott, and began shouting. Some also tried to reach Servil, but they were stopped by court marshals, a county corrections officer and a Maine State Police officer who had been sitting with the state prosecutors. Shouting at Servil included “he deserves to die,” “he should get stabbed,“ and a racial epithet.

Warren, his wife, and Abbott’s mother had given impact statements at the hearing, which lasted nearly two hours. They asked Mullen to reject prosecutors’ proposed 45-year sentence in favor of a life sentence, which is the maximum allowed for a murder conviction under Maine statute.

Mullen, who stood up from the bench and watched the incident from near the courtroom exit, did not hold any of the family members who disrupted the proceeding in contempt.

Barbara Cardone, a spokesperson for the Maine Judicial Branch, confirmed that Maine judges do have “full contempt powers” but could not speak for Mullen’s decisions.

“I do not know what choices were made and why in this case,” Cardone wrote in an email Tuesday.

Mullen could not comment on the incident because judges do not discuss pending criminal matters, Cardone said Friday.

Maloney, the district attorney, said she could not recall a similar incident that has occurred in a Maine courtroom. But both Cardone and Sheriff Lancaster said that courtroom disruptions are becoming more common.

“Usually, we can de-escalate those situations,” Lancaster said Tuesday. “In this case, it appears that the victim’s brother was impulsive and there wasn’t much talking prior to the attempted assault.”

Pratt, Servil’s defense attorney, called the incident unacceptable in an interview Friday. Pratt said his co-counsel was squashed against the bar during the melee.

Court security protocols need to be reexamined, especially at emotionally charged hearings such as a murder sentencing, Pratt said.

“I don’t think that the victim’s family should be sitting in the front row, and they shouldn’t be sitting behind the defendant,” Pratt said. “There needs to be more physical separation, and obviously there needs to be more security.”

Superior Court Justice Robert Mullen last week imposed a 45-year sentence on Jason Servil for the 2022 murder of Alice Abbott in Skowhegan. In his impact statement, the victim’s brother, Clifford “CJ” Warren, told the court how much Servil’s actions have hurt him and his family. “From the blood-stained walls of the camper to the bruised and battered body I said my goodbyes to, I can’t unsee the horror Jason has brought on my family.” Anna Chadwick/Morning Sentinel

The family members, who totaled about a dozen, were seated in the front row of the middle section of courtroom gallery, which extends behind both the prosecutor and defense tables.

Lancaster said his office continually reviews its court security protocols. Sometimes, emotions can boil over in the courtroom, he said.

“It’s a tragic case and there are a lot of emotions that are attached to those types of cases,” Lancaster continued. “And, really, rightly so.”

In his impact statement, Warren spoke about the void in his life after his sister was murdered.

“My wife has been forced to carry the immense burden of a distracted and disheartened husband, and my son has had the disadvantage of an impatient father,” Warren said. “A piece of my consciousness is always with Allie, agonizing over the images that will never leave me.

“From the blood-stained walls of the camper to the bruised and battered body I said my goodbyes to, I can’t unsee the horror Jason has brought on my family.”

Editor’s note: This story has been updated to correct dialogue of shouting that occurred in the courtroom.