PORTLAND — Jonathan Mitchell, the man shot by an officer while fleeing police in a car, was sentenced today to nine months and one day in prison – the mandatory minimum penalty for being a habitual driving offender.

Mitchell, 30, of Veazie, had pleaded guilty this week to that charge as well as failing to stop for an officer and refusing to submit to arrest. Two counts of reckless conduct with a dangerous weapon – the car – and a criminal trespass charge were dropped in the proceeding in Cumberland County Superior Court.

Justice Roland Cole today also sentenced Mitchell to six months on the failure to stop for an officer and six months for refusing to submit to arrest, to be served concurrently with the habitual offender penalty. That offense carried a maximum penalty of five years and Assistant District Attorney Deb Chmielewski had recommended a four-year sentence.

Cole also sentenced Mitchell to serve an additional nine months in prison for a probation violation after he completes the first sentence. The underlying charge was aggravated assault.

The chase and the shooting took place April 10 after police responded to a report that Mitchell had broken into the apartment of his estranged wife. Police have said they chased Mitchell as he drove down dead-end Fairfied Street and that the two officers approached on foot after he was cornered. Officer Robert Miller fired twice, hitting Mitchell in the neck and shoulder, as Mitchell sped away in a friend’s Volkswagen Jetta.

Mitchell’s lawyers have maintained that the officers were not in the car’s path when Miller shot him.
J.P. DeGrinney said during the hearing that the entire incident would not have taken place if Miller’s estranged wife, Mary Elizabeth, had not falsely told police he was burglarizing her home. DeGrinney said later that the the wife made the 911 call after the two had argued.
 

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