PORTLAND — The Maine Supreme Judicial Court has rejected the appeal of a 59-year-old man convicted of taking a fifth-grade classroom hostage at gunpoint.
Randall Hofland of Searsport is serving a 35-year sentence following his conviction on 22 counts of kidnapping and other charges for holding 11 children at gunpoint in Stockton Springs on Oct. 31, 2008.
Additional Photos
In his appeal, Hofland’s claims include that he was denied the right to a speedy trial and the right to self-representation and that the judge illegally sentenced him to consecutive sentences, rather than concurrent sentences.
The court issued a unanimous opinion Tuesday rejecting his claims.
Hefland’s 2011 trial attracted widespread attention. Hefland argued that problems stemming from his divorce and losing custody of his children led to his crimes, as well as a vast conspiracy against him.
He said that children who were suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder from the incident were doing so because of the lies that adults have told them about their experiences that day.
He also blamed Searsport police Officer Jessica Danielson for the incident. During a traffic stop on Oct. 23, 2008 — eight days before the hostage situation — Hofland was accused of using a 10mm Glock handgun to threaten Danielson before fleeing from police into woods off Route 1.
He lived in the woods as a fugitive for about a week before emerging Oct. 31 at the Stockton Springs Elementary School, where he took the children hostage.
The jury later found him not guilty of threatening Danielson.
”We can all thank Jessica Danielson for this, ” Hofland argued in court.
Despite no one ultimately being physically injured in the incident, Justice Jeffrey Hjelm sentenced Hofland to 35 years in prison in October 2011.
”Mr. Hofland’s approach to these proceedings over the last 28 months is based on the notion that the best defense is a good offense, ” Hjelm said during the sentencing hearing. ”Mr. Hofland has taken the approach of blaming everyone in sight except for himself. In no way has he expressed any sincere remorse.”
That lack of remorse, refusal to take responsibility for his actions, the youth of his victims and the fact that the crimes were committed in an elementary school were aggravating factors that Hjelm considered as he determined the sentence.
Those aggravating factors were of ”monumental weight, ” Hjelm said at the hearing, far outweighing the facts that Hofland, 57, had no prior criminal record and that no one suffered serious physical injury.
During the hearing, the children’s families also pushed for a stiff sentence.
William Dakin wasn’t in the school that day, but broke down in tears as he described how Hofand grabbed his fourth-grade son in the cafeteria while looking for kids to use as protection from police.
”The impact of his crime was enormous. It destroyed that sense of security, ” Waldo County District Attorney Geoffrey Rushlau said.
Hofland later apologized for the incident. ‘It was totally unlike me. A total brain-fart,” Hofland said. ”It was a very temporary madness. … Very temporary.”
Hofland’s lawyer presented an insanity defense during the trial, but the jury rejected that defense.
— The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Send questions/comments to the editors.
Success. Please wait for the page to reload. If the page does not reload within 5 seconds, please refresh the page.
Enter your email and password to access comments.
Hi, to comment on stories you must . This profile is in addition to your subscription and website login.
Already have a commenting profile? .
Invalid username/password.
Please check your email to confirm and complete your registration.
Only subscribers are eligible to post comments. Please subscribe or login first for digital access. Here’s why.
Use the form below to reset your password. When you've submitted your account email, we will send an email with a reset code.