WEST STEWARTSTOWN – Former state senator Jeffrey Woodburn was released Monday from the Coos County Jail after serving 20 days of his 30-day sentence on two charges of criminal mischief, the only two he was convicted of out of nine charges in a domestic violence case involving his former fiancée, Emily Jacobs.
Jacobs filed a temporary restraining order against Woodburn, 59, of Whitefield in June after he went to a beach near Jacobs’ present home in Cape Elizabeth, Maine, where one of her children was present, according to the Caledonian Record.
The newspaper reported that a Portland District Court judge has approved a two-year protective order after a hearing Sept. 30 in which Woodburn appeared via video.
The two criminal mischief convictions involved Woodburn in 2017 kicking the door to Jacobs’ home when she refused to let him inside and kicking her clothes dryer door, breaking the appliance.
The case has been in the courts since 2018 when Woodburn was arrested and charged originally with nine misdemeanors.
Jacobs recently released the following statement to the press: “It has been a long process, but I hope that any victim who has followed this case will see that justice can prevail and there are people who can help you.”
Woodburn didn’t return a message Tuesday seeking comment.
The Attorney General’s Office provided information on a right-to-know request that showed that office spent an estimated $238,600 prosecuting the case since Woodburn’s 2018 arrest, mostly on attorney time.
A court spokesman said there is no way to break down the cost of an individual case to the court system. Besides the two jury trials, there were numerous hearings and motions filed in the case.
Woodburn previously estimated his legal fees over the years to be about $113,000.
At Woodburn’s first trial he was found not guilty on five of the original nine charges involving one incident of biting Jacobs, throwing a cup of water at her face, punching her in the stomach and trespassing.
The original guilty verdicts included the two counts of criminal mischief, one count of domestic violence and one simple assault, including breaking the dryer door and a door at Jacobs’ residence and biting her in a separate incident.
The simple assault and domestic violence charges were retried in Coos County Superior Court, but a mistrial was declared in March when the jury couldn’t reach a verdict. Attorney General John Formella decided to drop those charges instead of a third trial.
That left just the two criminal mischief convictions, which the state Supreme Court refused to reconsider.
Woodburn argued in this year’s second trial that he was acting in self-defense.
Ben Champagne, the Superintendent of the Coos County Jail said Woodburn was incarcerated from Sept. 25 right after a hearing in Grafton Superior Court and was released Monday for a total of 20 days.
Champagne said if inmates are of good behavior in county jails they can be released after serving two-thirds of their sentence.
