A Maine judge has lowered bail for a Farmingdale man who has insisted he is innocent since police charged him with manslaughter last month.

Jason Hewett makes his first appearance in Knox County Superior Court via Zoom. Screenshot from Zoom hearing

Jason Hewett, 39, has denied that he shot and killed Kyle MacDougall, 45, of Waldoboro. Hewett is one of three men charged in connection with MacDougall’s death in Cushing sometime around the Fourth of July.

After a hearing in Knox County Superior Court on Monday, Active Retired Justice Jeffrey Hjelm agreed to reduce Hewett’s bail from $250,000 cash bail to $200,000. The amount dwarfs the $25,000 that defense attorney Andrew Wright requested.

Wright raised questions about the state’s evidence and said the police investigation involved numerous conflicting statements from alleged eyewitnesses, some of whom could be alternative suspects. He also complained that prosecutors have failed to share any other evidence in Hewett’s case, including the affidavits for the other two men who were charged.

The first person arrested, 41-year-old Mark Gagne, of Cushing, was accused of covering up the crime by destroying and burning the body. John Flower, 39, of Rockland, was also arrested for allegedly hindering law enforcement’s investigation, but it’s still unclear how.

Hewett has denied the state’s allegations and criticized the case. He has shared a sealed affidavit for his arrest, which offered inconsistent accounts of MacDougall’s death.

“I’ve definitely had my fair share of run-ins with the law, but I’m not a murderer,” Hewett told the Press Herald in a phone interview from Two Bridges Regional Jail on Aug. 12. “I’m not someone that kills people and burns the materials. … I don’t understand why some things are being written or portrayed.”

The affidavit was still sealed Monday.

Hjelm didn’t entertain most of Wright’s complaints Monday, repeating several times that he was only assigned to handle bail and that another judge – Superior Justice Patrick Larson – is handling the full case and has scheduled a meeting regarding the evidence issue for early September.

“The court recognizes that the affidavit contains information that does not directly implicate the defendant in the alleged homicide, but the inculpatory material is sufficient to generate the concerns described here,” Hjelm wrote in his bail order.

In court Monday, Assistant Attorney General Bud Ellis argued that Hewett is a danger to the public and a flight risk. He cited not only Hewett’s alleged four-hour standoff with police and high-speed chase in Augusta but also his lengthy criminal history in Maine and the nature of the allegations against him.

Ellis requested Hewett’s bail remain high because others said he fired a shotgun at MacDougall from a short distance.

Hjelm agreed.

“Although the information in the affidavit suggests that the incident was situational, the lethality of the defendant’s alleged conduct, particularly given the defendant’s criminal history, which includes crimes of violence, raises issues of public safety,”Hjelm wrote.

QUESTIONING THE EVIDENCE

Wright said his client has been in the dark about his own case for 40 days, sitting in jail.

“Both the public and especially my client have been kept in the dark as to the allegations against him,” Wright said in an email. “This is incredibly unusual and is much more reminiscent of non-democratic countries where rights are significantly curtailed. I am at a loss as to how the State’s actions are transparent, fair, seeking justice, or even legal.”

Wright said neither he nor his client have received any evidence regarding the high-speed chase, even though a Maine State Police spokesperson said on July 16 that Hewett was arrested on eluding and domestic violence assault charges. (Neither was filed in Kennebec County, where Hewett was arrested, a clerk confirmed Monday.)

He also raised concerns about Hewett’s treatment during the arrest.

Wright said Hewett voluntarily turned himself into police after speaking with them from his car. While lying on the ground, Hewett was “swarmed” by officers. At some point during either the chase or the arrest, he was hit by a rubber bullet – for which Wright said Hewett is still receiving medical attention.

Hewett interrupted to say that he was “surrounded by unmarked cars on a back road.” Hjelm told him not to speak.

“To this day – 40 days later – there has been no explanation as to how he was legally held for two days in a different county without being charged,” Wright wrote.