By Natalie Bazinet
Staff Writer
CARIBOU — Legal proceedings have come to a technical halt for a Limestone man accused with manslaughter until legal representation for the defendant can be found.
Nicklas Jones of Limestone, accused with the 2009 death of his 3-month-old daughter Joselyn Jones, had previously been represented by Anthony Trask of the Presque Isle law firm Currier and Trask, but Trask has recently moved to southern Maine and will no longer be available to represent Jones.
The case and all its proceedings will continue once a new attorney is found for Jones. While a “time limit” for finding an attorney wasn’t set, Assistant Attorney General Andrew Benson is confident that a new attorney for Jones will be found within a month or two. Benson and others of his office would take appropriate measures should an unacceptable amount of time pass without Jones obtaining a lawyer, but that scenario isn’t anticipated to play out.
Jones was first arrested in early May of 2009 about a week after he allegedly threw his daughter into her crib to stop her from crying. Shortly after his arrest, he was held at Mountain View Correctional Facility in Charleston for just about a year until a hearing was held to determine how the teenager would be tried; because Jones was 17 at the time of the alleged incident, the hearing determined whether he would be tried as a juvenile or an adult. After a two-day hearing in May of 2010, the judge determined that Jones would be tried as an adult and shortly after, his bail was set at $50,000 surety or $10,000 cash with a slue of conditions including that Jones report weekly to law enforcement officials and maintain drug and alcohol free.
Two months later, Jones was indicted by the Aroostook County grand jury and has pleaded not guilty to the manslaughter charge.
Jones made bail in early summer of 2010 and is not incarcerated.
