BANGOR - The girlfriend of homicide victim Ralph Greenleaf, whodied Sept. 1 from injuries suffered after he was pushed and fellnear a bar under the Joshua Chamberlain Bridge, said she is outragedthat no one will face charges in his death.
Dale Lambert of Bangor said Wednesday that she and others will beout in front of the Penobscot Judicial Center at 11 a.m. Sundayprotesting the Penobscot County grand jury's decision Nov. 24 not toreturn an indictment in the death of Greenleaf, 47, who was known as'Greenie.'
'We just want justice,' said Lambert. 'His life was taken andit's just not right. Somebody needs to be held accountable.'
Lambert, who said she was Greenleaf's fiancee, was interviewed inthe Ohio Street apartment she once shared with Greenleaf, surroundedby his pictures.
Sitting at the kitchen table with her were her nephew, Frankfortresident Jack Thompson; a friend, Lisa Petersen of Bangor; and alongtime friend of Greenleaf, Amanda Hamblen of Bangor.
The group invited anyone who thinks justice has not been servedto show up at Sunday's rally.
'Somebody killed him. Somebody took his life and we are livid. Weare beyond angry,' Lambert said. 'He was my soul mate. My life willnever be OK again until somebody is held accountable for takinghim.'
Greenleaf suffered his fatal injury when he was pushed once by anindividual, fell and hit his head on the pavement, Bangor police Lt.Tim Reid, head of the detective division, said at a press conferencelast week.
'Sixteen people testified before the grand jury over two days,and they decided that it does not rise to a suitable level ofprosecution,' he said. 'The grand jury's decision effectively closesthis case.'
The incident occurred just after area bars closed early onSunday, Aug. 29. Around 1:25 a.m., an unconscious Greenleaf wastaken by ambulance to Eastern Maine Medical Center in Bangor. Hedied three days later, at 11:20 p.m. Sept. 1.
Thompson said he was one of the people who testified before thegrand jury. He said Wednesday that he was standing nearby, by theentrance of Carolina Sports and Spirits, when he heard someone saythere was a fight, and he looked over and saw a group of five youngmen gathered around Greenleaf.
'The bouncers went over to break it up and those five guys leftand he was on the ground having a seizure,' Thompson said.
A member of the band playing at the bar called for an ambulance.
'They knew that night who did it,' Lambert said of policeinvestigators. 'They should have arrested somebody that night.'
Even though the case is closed, Bangor Police Chief Ron Gastiadeclined this week to release the police investigative files.
'The answer is no,' he said Monday evening.
The files are considered nonconviction data and do not qualify aspublic information, Gastia explained.
'I can release it ... but I won't do it,' he said.
The Bangor Daily News filed a freedom of information request withGastia on Tuesday morning and the department's records clerkresponded Tuesday afternoon, saying that under Maine laws the policefiles are confidential because they consist of intelligence andinvestigative information and their release would constitute anunwarranted invasion of personal privacy.
The Bangor Daily News filed a second request for information onTuesday with William Stokes, head of the criminal division of theMaine Attorney General's Office.
'Some of it you could get, but it would have to be heavilyredacted,' Stokes said Monday. 'Providing the data, withoutredaction, would constitute an unwarranted invasion of personalprivacy for the accused, witnesses and bystanders.'
But Stokes acknowledged that 'the public has an interest [in thecase] because someone is dead.'
On Wednesday, Stokes hedged on his earlier statement, saying heworried that even with the names removed it would be easy todetermine who pushed Greenleaf.
'Even if we take out the names of the witnesses, you could sortof connect the dots,' Stokes said. 'I'm consulting with my chiefdeputy ... on whether we can release anything. It may be that I willhave to deny your request.'
Still, without the reports to tell the official story, he noted,'The public is left with: What did really happen?'
Bernard Kubetz, legal counsel for the Bangor Daily News, said thelaw protects criminal investigative information.
'There is justification in their response that there is a statutethat protects from disclosure information, criminal investigativeinformation, that might constitute an unwarranted invasion ofpersonal privacy,' he said. 'There is a legitimate basis for thatposition.'
The Maine Attorney General's Office prosecutes all homicides inMaine.
Penobscot County District Attorney R. Christopher Almy saidTuesday that he would not pursue any lesser charges against theperson who pushed Greenleaf.
'The grand jury's decision as far as we're concerned is bindingon any charges that would be brought,' he said.
After Greenleaf's death, the state medical examiner's officeconducted an autopsy and determined that he died of blunt force headtrauma and that the manner of death was homicide.
Greenleaf was a longtime employee of Roof Systems of Maine inBangor, where he worked as a kettle tender. He had worked for thecompany since 1992.
The Greenleaf case is in some ways similar to one that happenedin Portland's Monument Square in May, when William Googins, 20, ofGray allegedly punched Eric Benson, 24, of Westbrook one time,knocking him unconscious. Benson later died at Maine Medical Center.
Googins 'was indicted for manslaughter as well as aggravatedassault,' Stokes said.
Googins, who has pleaded not guilty, has said he did not realizethe punch would lead to Benson's death.
While there are similarities, 'the facts there [in Portland] aresignificantly different than the Greenleaf situation,' Stokes said.
Without going into the specifics of Greenleaf's case, he said,there are conflicting stories - from those involved as well aswitnesses and bystanders - about what led up to the confrontationbetween Greenleaf and the person who pushed him,
'You have an incident involving a number of different people invarious levels of intoxication, so you have conflicting versions,'he said. 'I can't give you the official version. It's not like allthe witnesses saw the same thing.'
According to Stokes, some of the witnesses said Greenleafprovoked a fight and others said he was provoked. Some said it wasself-defense, while others said he was attacked. And some of thewitnesses may have biases based on friendships, Stokes said.
'That is why we decided to present it to the grand jury to letthem sort it out,' he said. 'We thought the most appropriate thingwas to present it to a group of citizens and let them tell us whatthey think.'
While it is rare, there are occasions when someone dies as aresult of someone else's actions and the death does not result incriminal charges, Stokes said.
The Greenleaf case is effectively closed and is recorded as asolved homicide, Stokes said.
Greenleaf's loved ones said they hope a lot of people will comeout Sunday to support them and send a message that someone needs tobe charged in his death.
'I don't understand how there is not enough evidence to chargesomeone,' said Lambert, who continues to wear the engagement ringGreenleaf gave her. 'His life meant something. Where is hisjustice?'
BDN writer Judy Harrison contributed to this report.
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