Potter Hearing Rescheduled Again
James L. Potter, the former Bourne Select Board member facing multiple felony charges including indecent assault and battery on a child and rape of a child, will not reappear in court until March 23.
Mr. Potter was scheduled to appear in Falmouth District Court on Wednesday, February 15, for pretrial and probable cause hearings. But, for the third time, these hearings have been rescheduled, this time until March 23.
Mr. Potter was arrested and arraigned on August 11, 2022. He pleaded not guilty to all charges and was released on August 15 after posting a $20,000 bail.
According to court records, Mr. Potter has been charged with two counts of indecent assault and battery on a child under the age of 14, one count of rape of a child, one count of indecent assault and battery on a person over the age of 14, and one count of rape. The alleged offenses occurred during the years of 2009, 2015, and 2022.
Court documents indicate that Mr. Potter appeared in court again September 9, at which time Judge Lisa Edmunds set a pretrial hearing date for October 20. That hearing was rescheduled, court documents show, at the request of the commonwealth with no objection.
Mr. Potter next appeared in court alongside his attorney, John Pensa, on December 12 for scheduled pretrial and probable cause hearings, according to court documents. It was then that the commonwealth informed Judge Edmunds that Mr. Potter was supposed to have been indicted by a grand jury that previous Friday, December 9, but the grand jury was not yet ready to proceed.
A request to reschedule the hearings for this Wednesday, February 15, by the commonwealth was granted with objection, according to court documents. But instead of being held this week, court documents show that the hearings were again rescheduled, this time for March 23, at the request of both parties.
Mr. Potter, a former town official who served on various town boards and committees, is named as a defendant in three open cases at Falmouth District Court. Two of the cases are criminal: one charges Mr. Potter with indecent assault and battery on a child under the age of 14, a felony charge stemming from an incident on April 23, 2022, in Bourne; the other charges him with four felonies including indecent assault and battery on a child under the age of 14, rape of a child, and indecent assault and battery on a child over the age of 14, all of which stem from a 2009 incident, and one charge of rape, stemming from a 2015 incident.
The third case naming Mr. Potter as a defendant comes from small claims court. A complaint against Mr. Potter was filed on February 6 by John F. Allison, who identifies himself as the son of Mr. Potter’s ex-wife. Mr. Allison claims that Mr. Potter sold his car, a 2011 Camry, and has provided no money nor bill of sale as a result.
The car, the complaint alleges, was initially purchased for Mr. Allison by Mr. Potter in June 2019 with the understanding that Mr. Allison would pay it off. Mr. Potter was married to Mr. Allison’s mother at the time, and Mr. Allison was in college. In the complaint, Mr. Allison states that he paid Mr. Potter a sum of $5,000 over the next two years, and proof provided confirms that at least $3,016 were sent to a Venmo account with the name ‘Jim Potter.’ Upon completion of the payments, Mr. Allison says that it had been agreed that Mr. Potter would then transfer over the title of the vehicle. No such exchange ever happened, and Mr. Allison’s complaint states that he is of the impression that Mr. Potter sold the vehicle and has since refused to produce either a return of funds or a bill of sale.
The case is headed to small claims court in a virtual hearing on April 26 at 1 PM.
Cape and Islands District Attorney Robert Galibois was not able to be reached for comment on this case.