WOODSTOCK – A Woodstock man’s claims that he was falsely arrested by a state trooper and maliciously prosecuted by the district attorney’s office have been all but laid to rest.

That was the opinion Wednesday afternoon of Assistant Attorney General William R. Fisher, after a Dec. 1 decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals in Boston.

“It’s only a matter of time,” said Fisher, who has defended State Trooper John Hainey and the Oxford County district attorney’s office since the civil rights suit by John Cox III began last year.

Cox’s lawyer, Timothy E. Zerillo of Portland, however, disagreed with Fisher’s opinion.

Although Zerillo said Wednesday that he must first check with his client, he said he intends to pursue the suit’s last remaining claim of malicious prosecution by the district attorney’s office.

The charge was remanded back to the state by a May 27, 2004, decision by U.S. District Judge D. Brock Hornby. It is now pending before Oxford County Superior Court Judge Ellen Gorman in Paris.

“They’ve whittled us down to this, but we still intend to go forward with what’s left, and do what we can with it,” Zerillo said.

Zerillo expects the matter to go to trial next spring or summer.

Fisher, who is to file a motion for summary judgment to dismiss the claim, says otherwise.

“This malicious prosecution claim cannot succeed, because the 1st Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that Hainey had probable cause to arrest Cox, and you can’t have malicious prosecution under those circumstances,” Fisher said.

“Secondly,” he added, “claims against the D.A.’s office are claims against the state, and you can’t sue the state. The 11th Amendment forbids it, so John Cox is going to lose.”

According to Cox’s suit, Hainey and a Norway officer set up a monitored purchase of Roxicodone, which Cox was legally prescribed for a back condition. But, Cox was not home, so a police informant made the buy from a juvenile there on April 28, 2001.

After execution of a search warrant at Cox’s home on May 9, 2001, Hainey arrested Cox, then 38, charging him with aggravated trafficking of Schedule W drugs, namely the narcotic painkiller Roxicodone, and furnishing scheduled drugs to a minor.

Roxicodone is a non-time-released version of Oxycontin. Both are brand names for oxycodone, a narcotic pain-reliever and cough suppressant similar to codeine and hydrocodone.

Cox was jailed, then released on bail with conditions that he have no contact with people under the age of 19; it was amended on June 4, 2001, allowing Cox contact with two of his children.

But, before Cox could be arraigned, the district attorney’s office on June 20, 2001, dropped all charges.

Fisher said Wednesday that because Cox was charged with aggravated trafficking, the state was required to prove that Cox was in the business of selling drugs.

“The assistant attorney general decided to no-complaint this, because he couldn’t prove that Cox knowingly gave the pills” to the minor, Fisher said.

Cox, through Zerillo, then sued Trooper John Hainey, the Maine State Police, the Norway police, the Oxford County Sheriff’s Department, the town of Norway, Oxford County and the Oxford County district attorney’s office.

Cox claimed that because of the false imprisonment, he suffered significant damages, including damage to his reputation, loss of enjoyment of life, economic damages, emotional distress, and pain and suffering.

“They put my client on strict bail conditions, and, in open court, said he was a drug dealer trafficking in drugs to children through his own child. Even to this day, people think he’s a drug dealer based on this,” Zerillo said.

Cox sued Hainey for false arrest, claiming he didn’t satisfy probable cause requirements, and the district attorney’s office for malicious prosecution and infliction of emotional distress.

Claims against all but Hainey, state police and the district attorney’s office were dismissed.

Fisher filed a motion for summary judgment, asking that the U.S. District Court in Portland dismiss the suit.

On March, 30, U.S. Magistrate Judge David M. Cohen denied parts of Fisher’s motion, but found in favor of Cox and Zerillo.

Fisher appealed.

On May 27, U.S. District Court Judge Hornby reversed Cohen’s decision, removing state police and Trooper Hainey from the lawsuit, and removing the district attorney’s office on all but three claims. Those were remanded to Oxford County Superior Court.

Zerillo and Cox then appealed to the federal appeals court in Boston.

While waiting for a decision, Cox’s case against the district attorney’s office and Hainey was to proceed to a jury trial.

But, before that could happen, the federal appeals court reaffirmed Hornby’s decision.

The court concluded that Hainey was correct to believe that probable cause existed to arrest Cox, based on his pre-arrest consultation with Assistant District Attorney Richard Beauchesne.