AUGUSTA — The owner of a shuttered Madison medical cannabis shop, accused of running his business without a license and then assaulting a court marshal during a courtroom outburst last year, has said from day one he wants a trial.

And if Daniel P. Safranec, 41, does not get one soon, he says a judge must dismiss two criminal cases pending against him.

Superior Court Justice Darcie McElwee appeared unconvinced of that argument Tuesday during a hearing at the Capital Judicial Center, although she did not make a ruling from the bench.  

But Safranec, who is representing himself with the assistance of a court-appointed “standby” lawyer, left the hearing with a better sense of when he may get to present his case to a jury.

McElwee set tentative dates for jury selection in November and trial in December for one of the cases. She also set another videoconference hearing later this month for Safranec to argue separate legal reasons he thinks the assault case should be dismissed and that evidence from search warrants executed at his shop and home should be suppressed. 

Safranec told McElwee, who has been specially assigned the case, he was pleased with how Tuesday’s proceeding went.

Wearing a gray sweater and jeans, Safranec brought with him a large cardboard box of documents and was cordial with both McElwee and Assistant Attorney General John Risler throughout the hearing.

Safranec’s conduct marked a sharp contrast from his initial court appearance in Skowhegan last November, when he repeatedly interrupted the judge and got into a scuffle with the judicial marshal directed to take him into custody. District Court Chief Judge Brent Davis called the outburst the worst behavior he had ever seen in a courtroom and sent Safranec to jail for 14 days for contempt of court.

Much of how Safranec’s case has made its way through the judicial system has also been unusual.

A few weeks after his initial court appearance, the case was transferred from Somerset County to Kennebec County. Then, in March, the district attorney’s office turned the case over to the attorney general’s office to prosecute because two Somerset County assistant district attorneys witnessed the courtroom altercation. Kennebec and Somerset counties are part of the same prosecutorial district, overseen by District Attorney Maeghan Maloney.

Judges also do not usually get special assignments for criminal cases, except for homicides, McElwee said.

Safranec has been representing himself since June after firing his hired attorney, Darrick X. Banda, over a March court filing to reschedule a dispositional conference. 

In the filing, Banda wrote Safranec was waiving his speedy trial rights. Safranec said he had told Banda multiple times not to do that.

Safranec is charged with one Class B count of unlawful trafficking in a scheduled drug and one Class B count of marijuana cultivation. He is also charged with one Class C count of assault on an officer and misdemeanor-level counts of refusing to submit to arrest, criminal mischief and violating conditions of release.

He pleaded not guilty Tuesday to all the charges. McElwee said she and other judges who have presided over the case apparently never arraigned him after a Somerset County grand jury returned two separate indictments in January.

His legal saga began in July 2025, when Madison officials took him to court in a civil matter because his shop, Simple Twist Cannabis Co. at 97 Lakewood Road in Madison, lacked state and local licenses to sell medical cannabis.

Safranec’s caregiver registry identification card expired July 9, 2024, and regulators did not grant his renewal applications because there was missing information, Office of Cannabis Policy records show. The office officially denied his renewal application May 30, 2025, and later upheld that decision on appeal.

After a hearing — during which Safranec also represented himself and was, at times, interrupted — District Court Judge Erika Bristol ordered the shop closed until it was licensed. Bristol also ordered Safranec to pay $29,000 in civil penalties and the town’s legal fees of $2,932.09.

A week later, Safranec’s business remained open — he said at that point he had not received Bristol’s order in the mail — and the Somerset County Sheriff’s Office executed search warrants at Simple Twist and his home on East Madison Road in Madison.

Investigators seized more than 2,120 pounds of processed marijuana, 159 flowering marijuana plants, a large amount of marijuana-laced products, more than $1,800 in cash and various records, Sheriff Dale Lancaster said at the time.

Police arrested Safranec, and he posted $10,000 cash bail the next day. In November, he showed up to court in Skowhegan for his initial appearance that ended with the scuffle.

Security footage later obtained showed that Safranec had his hand and wrists across Deputy Judicial Marshal Nick Rotondi’s neck and was applying pressure to keep him from standing up, Detective Jeremy Leal of the Somerset County District Attorney’s Office wrote in an affidavit. Rotondi, who was not seriously injured, later reported it was difficult for him to breathe at that point.

Safranec’s bail was revoked, and he stayed in jail through December 2025, when he posted $50,000 cash bail. Last month, McElwee lowered bail to $10,000 per an agreement between Safranec and Risler, the prosecutor.

Bail conditions include that Safranec not use or possess marijuana.

Safranec said Tuesday that has left him unable to make a living, as he now cannot get a state cannabis license. He told McElwee that Simple Twist opened in 2019 and he has been in the cannabis business since 2003.

Safranec made his speedy trial demand at his initial court appearance and then again a month later in writing, he said. But McElwee asked whether he indicated that demand after being indicted. Safranec said he had not.

“They should’ve been ready (for trial) before they even arrested me,” Safranec said.

McElwee responded saying that’s not the case: Prosecutors have to bring the charges to a grand jury to proceed to trial in felony cases. She asked whether Safranec waived indictment, which he did not.

He said that Banda, his prior attorney, never explained that possibility to him and he would have done so had he known it was an option.

“Truthfully, your honor, Darrick Banda did not talk to me about anything else except keeping his $25,000,” Safranec said.

Risler, the prosecutor, acknowledged Safranec has made it clear he wants a trial as soon as possible and the various steps of the court process can be frustrating for criminal defendants.

But the courts often prioritize cases involving defendants held in custody, Risler said, and the state has never requested a continuance in Safranec’s proceedings.

“As soon as we were able to get on a trial docket, to my knowledge, that’s what we did,” Risler said. “There has been no willful action of the state to delay his trial.”