Supreme Judicial Court of Maine

The Maine Supreme Judicial Court affirmed Timothy J. Burns's conviction, holding that the police report change log was not discoverable, that the trial court did not abuse its discretion in recalling a witness, and that the prosecutor's improper language in closing did not warrant a mistrial.

The Maine Supreme Judicial Court affirmed Desrosiers’s convictions for refusing to submit to arrest by using physical force against a law‑enforcement officer and for violating a condition of release, but vacated her conviction for operating an unregistered vehicle, holding that the statutory phrase “uses physical…

The court held that sufficient evidence supported Bradbury's conviction for unlawful sexual touching because the circumstances permitted the jury to find both that the younger sister did not acquiesce and that Bradbury was criminally negligent regarding that lack of acquiescence.

The Maine Supreme Judicial Court affirmed the trial court’s denial of Heather Marichal’s motion to continue the OUI trial, finding no abuse of discretion. It also held that the denial did not violate her Sixth or Fourteenth Amendment compulsory‑process rights because the State was not responsible for the witness’s…

The Maine Supreme Judicial Court affirmed the Public Utilities Commission’s order, holding that Berwick Solar remains obligated to pay the actual interconnection costs despite the Commission’s untimely reconciliation statements, that the Commission was correct that CMP need not provide purchase orders or invoices…

The Maine Supreme Judicial Court vacated Footman's robbery conviction because the trial court erred in admitting evidence of an uncharged 7‑Eleven robbery to prove his identity, and the error was not harmless. The court remanded for further proceedings.

The court held that the trial court improperly excluded extrinsic testimony that the victim had previously identified other attackers because the testimony was relevant impeachment evidence, but it affirmed the convictions after determining that the error was harmless.

The court affirmed an order allocating final decision-making authority over specified religious and medical matters to the child’s father. It held that a court resolving an impasse between parents may apply the child’s best-interest standard without strict scrutiny, but may not favor a parent based on religion or act…

The court held that MaineCare may recover the full amount it paid for a recipient’s medical care, but only from the portion of an unallocated tort settlement reasonably attributable to medical expenses.

The Supreme Judicial Court of Maine vacated James Welsh's conviction for indecent conduct because the trial court predicated guilt on his naked standing inside his own apartment, which the court held is a 'private place,' whereas the charged offense under 17-A M.R.S.

The court affirmed Hart’s convictions entered after a conditional guilty plea. It held that the State’s superseding indictment did not create a reasonable likelihood of prosecutorial vindictiveness, Hart’s jail statements had already been excluded from the State’s case-in-chief, and the remaining double-jeopardy and…

The court vacated the termination of Karen J.'s parental rights because the trial court placed substantial reliance on her inability to relocate from New Mexico to Maine, despite finding that she had gone above and beyond the reunification-plan requirements.

The court affirmed the judgment upholding the Department of Marine Resources’ approval of a reduced-size, twenty-year aquaculture lease that included a permanently moored storage raft.

The court held that the traffic stop was initially supported by objectively reasonable suspicion of license-plate and seat-belt violations, and that officers had sufficient information to investigate suspected drug trafficking after identifying Belony.

The court affirmed Schnackenberg’s murder conviction and fifty-five-year sentence. It held that the toxicology issue was unpreserved and revealed no obvious error, the skull photographs were properly admitted under the balancing test for relevant evidence, and the self-defense instructions accurately stated Maine law.

The court affirmed Peters’s conviction for endangering the welfare of a dependent person. It held that the State presented sufficient independent evidence to satisfy Maine’s corpus delicti rule, sufficient evidence beyond a reasonable doubt that Peters had assumed a legal duty of care, and photographs of the victim…

The court affirmed Johnson’s convictions, holding that the June 5 vehicle stop was a lawful investigatory stop supported by reasonable suspicion and did not become a de facto arrest.

The court held that Clark’s complaint alleged reviewable government action and stated a cognizable claim under the rule governing review of final government action. Accepting the complaint’s allegations as true and viewing them favorably to Clark, the court concluded that the Board’s refusal to pursue enforcement and…

The court held that Maine's equine-activity immunity statute protects only equine activity sponsors, equine professionals, and persons engaged in equine activities, so it did not immunize Temple, who was driving a UTV and was not engaged in an equine activity.

The Maine Supreme Judicial Court affirmed Djvan Carter's convictions for aggravated attempted murder, elevated aggravated assault, kidnapping, and domestic violence aggravated assault, and affirmed his sentence of life imprisonment.

The Supreme Judicial Court of Maine affirmed a divided decision of the Appellate Division of the Workers' Compensation Board awarding death benefits to Carol Brewster, the former spouse of Donald Nadeau, who died in 2020 from complications of a 1985 work injury. The court held that 39 M.R.S.A. § 58 (Pamph.

The Supreme Judicial Court of Maine affirmed Nathan Lee's convictions for domestic violence aggravated assault (Class B) and domestic violence criminal threatening with a dangerous weapon (Class C).

The Supreme Judicial Court vacated Ali's sentence for a second time because, on remand to merge his duplicative convictions, the trial court merely reimposed the original sentence while maintaining its prior sentencing analysis instead of conducting the new sentencing analysis required by 17-A M.R.S.

The Maine Supreme Judicial Court affirmed the Business and Consumer Docket's judgment upholding a DAFS appeal committee's validation of DHHS's awards of regional nonemergency transportation (NET) contracts to ModivCare for Regions 2, 3, 4, and 8.

The Maine Supreme Judicial Court affirmed a Superior Court judgment for the Maine Human Rights Commission finding that D&L Apartments and its owner violated the Maine Human Rights Act when the owner told a veteran with post-traumatic stress disorder, who anticipated obtaining an assistance dog, that no dogs—including…

The Law Court vacated the property-distribution portion of a divorce judgment entered after remand because the District Court valued the parties' property and calculated a $57,790.17 equalization payment using Kathleen's 2022 financial statement, which was never admitted in evidence; the only admitted statements were…

The Maine Supreme Judicial Court affirmed the summary‑judgment ruling in favor of Elizabeth and Holly Gurney. The court held that the Gurneys owed no duty to protect Wilson from the criminal act of a third‑party trespasser and that negligent entrustment cannot be predicated on the entrustment of real property.

The Maine Supreme Judicial Court affirmed the district court's approval of a consent judgment that required the gravel pit operator to cease extraction, submit a reclamation plan, and construct a 30‑foot reclaimed buffer, finding that the judgment does not violate state statutes, the town's site‑plan and shoreland…

The Maine Supreme Judicial Court affirmed the convictions, vacated the sentence on Counts 1, 5, 6, and 11, and remanded for resentencing after merging Count 6 into Count 1 and Count 11 into Count 5, while rejecting the forfeiture claim and finding no error in the jury instructions, sentencing factors, or denial of a…

The Maine Supreme Judicial Court affirmed the district court's final order of protection, finding that Jeffrey J. Weymouth's Facebook post, mailbox incident, and warning poster constituted a true threat and abuse under 19-A M.R.S. §4102(1)(B).

The Maine Supreme Judicial Court vacated a District Court judgment dismissing a protection-from-abuse complaint filed by Pat Doe against Alexander Y. Miller on behalf of herself and their three children.

The Law Court affirmed the Superior Court's judgment confirming an arbitration award that found Joseph and Laura Grady breached their commercial agricultural lease with Neils Point, LLC, by failing to pay proper rent and to grow productive crops, and denying their motion to vacate.

The Maine Supreme Judicial Court vacated the Superior Court's Rule 12(b)(6) dismissal of a condominium unit owner's breach-of-contract count seeking specific performance of a February 13, 2023 settlement agreement obligating the developer to complete infrastructure work, pay $35,000, and convey a buildable lot.

The court affirmed Marin’s convictions, holding that a photograph depicting a sexual act between persons in a grandfather-granddaughter-like relationship was relevant to motive and intent, was not impermissible propensity evidence, and was not unfairly prejudicial.

The court vacated enforcement of the purported settlement because the record did not contain competent evidence establishing mutual assent to a binding agreement or defining its terms.

The court held that Maine's disclosure statute authorizes enforcement only of an enforceable Maine judgment, so a federal judgment must first be domesticated or reduced to a Maine judgment.

The Court affirmed the Secretary of State’s determination that Albert Joy satisfied the statutory qualification requiring at least two years of supervisory employment experience in law enforcement or corrections.

The court affirmed the Probate Court's denial of probate for a handwritten document because the document's author did not intend it to be his final will. The court held that extrinsic evidence may be used to determine testamentary intent, that competent evidence supported the finding of no testamentary intent, and…

The court affirmed Truman’s convictions for victim tampering and improper victim contact. It held that the State was not required to prove that A.D. was actually the victim of the dismissed underlying assault, and it upheld admission of the jail-call recordings because the State presented sufficient authentication…

The court affirmed Murray’s sentences for unlawful sexual contact and visual sexual aggression against a child. It held that the sentencing court was not constitutionally required to treat Murray’s borderline intellectual functioning as inherently mitigating, did not improperly double-count grooming, and did not abuse…