AUGUSTA — A judge on Tuesday set bail at $100,000 cash or real estate for a West Gardiner man charged with murder and manslaughter.
Derrick Dupont, 26, of West Gardiner, is accused of shooting James L. Haskell Jr. to death on June 17 in the front yard of Dupont’s home on Yeaton Lane.
Prosecutors had asked for Tuesday’s hearing, hoping to hold Dupont without bail.
Before Tuesday’s hearing, Dupont’s defense attorneys, Pam Ames and Scott Hess, spent time in a conference room speaking with the prosecutor, Assistant Attorney John Alsop, and Maine State Police Sgt. Christopher Tremblay. Alsop said the attorneys reached agreement for Tuesday’s purposes that there was probable cause to believe that the defendant committed a capital offense, but that the state was not prepared at this point to establish certain items required to prohibit the defendant’s right to bail.
Justice William Stokes said he would use his authority to set discretionary bail.
“I understand there are various features of his case that warrant the setting of bail,” Stokes said.
He set bail conditions prohibiting Dupont’s use and possession of alcohol, illegal drugs and firearms as well contact with six members of Haskell’s family. He also set a curfew of 8 p.m. to 6 a.m. and indicated Dupont would be subject to a Maine Pretrial Services supervision contract if he posted bail.
A status conference in the case is set for Dec. 4, and Stokes said he anticipates setting the case for trial at some point next year.
Dupont was indicted Aug. 24 on murder and manslaughter charges in the shooting death of Haskell. Dupont pleaded not guilty to the charges in the indictment and had been held without bail pending Tuesday’s hearing.
On Tuesday, he was brought into the courtroom in shackles and a green jail uniform. He said nothing publicly during the few minutes he was in the courtroom.
Four members of Haskell’s family accompanied the victim advocate to court. They indicated through the advocate they did not want to speak to a reporter.
Ten members of Dupont’s family watched the brief proceedings in the courtroom at the Capital Judicial Center.
Dupont was arrested Aug. 25, the day after a Kennebec County grand jury returned an indictment against him.
Haskell, 41, of Chelsea, died of “gunshot wounds to the head, neck and abdomen,” according to the state medical examiner’s office.
No one had been charged previously. State police said in June they interviewed the person who did the shooting, but they did not identify the person.
Details have been slow to emerge in the case.
On June 17, Kennebec County Sheriff’s Office deputies went to the shooting scene at 9 Yeaton Drive in response to a 911 call about 2:50 a.m. State police detectives joined them there later. A number of people had been at the home before the shooting.
Two days later, the Kennebec County sheriff’s log indicated, “Caller reports he shot someone.”
Yeaton Drive is just over the Farmingdale line in West Gardiner and directly across Hallowell-Litchfield Road from Fuller’s Market.
Betty Adams — 621-5631
Twitter: @betadams
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