Justia Maine Supreme Court Opinion Summaries

The Supreme Judicial Court affirmed Defendant's conviction for aggravated assault, robbery, domestic violence assault, domestic violence criminal threatening, and theft by unauthorized taking or transfer but reversed his sentence, holding that the trial court erred by failing to merge duplicative counts.The Supreme Judicial Court remanded this case for resentencing, holding (1) the trial court did not err in failing to give a specific unanimity instruction in addition to the given general unanimity instruction; (2) the trial court erred in failing to merge the duplicative counts of theft by unauthorized taking or transfer and robbery, resulting in a double-jeopardy violation; and (3) the trial court's reliance on Defendant's decision to seek a trial as an aggravating factor in his sentence was unconstitutional. View "State v. Chase" on Justia Law

The Supreme Judicial Court affirmed Defendant's conviction for three counts of intentional or knowing murder, among other crimes, holding that Defendant was not entitled to relief on his claims of error.On appeal, Defendant challenged the decision of the trial court to admit a statement that he made to police in which he identified the number and names of his victims and argued that the trial court committed obvious error by instructing the jury on the thirty-party provocation exception to the use of deadly force. The Supreme Judicial Court affirmed, holding (1) any error in admitting Defendant's challenged statement was harmless beyond any reasonable doubt; and (2) the trial court did not commit obvious error by reciting a portion of the self-defense statute that was not generated by the evidence. View "State v. Bonfanti" on Justia Law

The Supreme Judicial Court vacated the decision of the Town of Ogunquit Board of Appeals concluding that good cause existed for this appeal brought by Appellant pursuant to Me. R. Civ. P. 80B challenging the issuance of building permits by the Town's code enforcement officer (CEO) to 477 Shore Road LLC, holding that the Board erred.At issue was the issuance of building permits to the LLC of construction relating to six single-family dwelling units. Appellant, who owned property abutting the LLC's parcel, filed a complaint requesting an injunction, a writ of mandamus, and a declaratory judgment. The complaint was denied. While Appellant's appeal was pending (Tominsky I), the CEO issued a certificate of occupancy for one of the dwelling units. Appellant appealed the issuance of the certificate, but the Board voted not to hear the appeal. Appellant then filed a second complaint containing multiple counts against the Town and the LLC (Tominsky II). The superior court denied Appellant's appeal in Tominsky I and dismissed the appeal in Tominsky II. The Supreme Judicial Court vacated the judgment in Tominsky I and affirmed the judgment in Tominksy II, holding (1) the appeal in Tominsky I before the Board was untimely; and (2) the appeal in Tominsky II failed to allege a viable claim for relief. View "Tominsky v. Town of Ogunquit" on Justia Law

The Supreme Judicial Court vacated the judgment of divorce entered by the district court as to the disposition of certain property and the dissolution of Cole G. Bridges Wild Blueberry LLC, holding that the circuit court lacked jurisdiction to order the dissolution of the LLC and erred in setting aside certain property to Cole Bridges.In 2020, Candy Littell filed for divorce from Bridges. The district court granted the divorce. On appeal, Bridges argued that the district court erred in evaluating and classifying a Cessna airplane and lacked jurisdiction to dissolve the LLC. The Supreme Judicial Court vacated the judgment in part and remanded the case, holding (1) the court did not have jurisdiction over the LLC and thus could not order its dissolution; and (2) the court erred in its classification and valuation of the Cessna airplane. View "Littell v. Bridges" on Justia Law

The Supreme Judicial Court vacated the judgment entered in the district court granting Pat Doe a protection from abuse (PFA) order against Thomas Lindahl, holding that remand was required.In January 2022, Doe filed her first PFA. The complaint was denied because Doe failed to prove her allegations. In April 2022, Doe filed the PFA complaint at issue. After the hearing, the trial court granted the PFA for one year, finding that there was a basis to Plaintiff's complaint under Me. Rev. Stat. 19-A, 4002(1)(B). The Supreme Judicial Court vacated the order, holding (1) the court's finding of abuse relied upon an erroneous assumption that the events Doe described as happening on April 22, 2022 occurred on May 13 2022, in violation of an amended temporary protection order; and (2) therefore, remand for clarification was required. View "Doe v. Lindahl" on Justia Law

The Supreme Judicial Court affirmed in part and vacated in part the judgment entered in the district court establishing parental rights and responsibilities concerning Father's child with Mother, holding that the court's judgment included a finding regarding domestic violence that was contrary to the evidence.Father filed a complaint for the determination of parental rights and responsibilities, and Mother filed an answer and counterclaim. After the district court entered its judgment Father appealed. The Supreme Judicial Court vacated in part the judgment below, holding (1) the court did not err in calculating Father's gross income for purposes of child support; and (2) the court clearly erred in finding that Father did not dispute Mother's testimony that he grabbed, pushed, and choked her, and the error was not harmless. View "Francoeur v. Berube" on Justia Law

The Supreme Judicial Court affirmed the judgment of the trial court convicting Defendant of two counts of gross sexual assault and two counts of unlawful sexual contact, holding that Defendant was not entitled to relief on his allegations of error.Specifically, the Supreme Judicial Court held (1) the district court did not abuse its discretion in denying Defendant's motion for a continuance; (2) there was no constitutional error in the trial court's ruling requiring that participants in Defendant's trial be masked; (3) there was no prosecutorial error in either the State's opening or closing argument or in the State's rebuttal argument; and (4) Defendant's claims of evidentiary error were unavailing. View "State v. Hunt" on Justia Law

The Supreme Judicial Court held that Wayne Jortner, Richard Bennett, John Clark, and Nicole Grohoski (collectively, Jortner) met his burden to demonstrate that a ballot question for citizen-initiated legislation was not "understandable to a reasonable voter reading the question for the first time" and that it would mislead a reasonable voter under Me. Rev. Stat. 21-A, 905(2).Jortner brought this action seeking judicial review of the Secretary of State's decision upon the final wording of the ballot question for the citizens' initiative proposing legislation entitled "An Act To Create the Pine Tree Power Company, a Nonprofit, Customer-owned Utility." At issue was whether Pine Tree Power Company should be described as "consumer-owned" rather than "quasi-governmental." The superior court entered judgment for Jortner. The Supreme Judicial Court affirmed, holding that the Secretary of State's use of the term "quasi-governmental" did not comply with her responsibilities to ensure that the description of the subject matter was understandable to a reasonable voter reading the question for the first time. View "Jortner v. Secretary of State" on Justia Law

The Supreme Judicial Court affirmed Defendant's conviction of intentional or knowing murder and his thirty-five-year sentence, holding that Defendant was not entitled to relief on his allegations of error.After a jury trial, Defendant was convicted of murder and robbery of the same victim. On remand, the trial court sentenced Defendant to thirty-five years for the murder conviction and twenty tears for the robbery conviction, to be served concurrently. The Supreme Judicial Court affirmed, holding (1) the lower court did not violate Defendant's constitutional rights to a sentence proportional to the offense in imposing the sentence; and (2) the lower court did not obviously err in failing to provide the jury a self-defense instruction under Me. Rev. Stat. 108(2)(A)(2). View "State v. Asante" on Justia Law

The Supreme Judicial Court vacated the judgment of the post-conviction review (PCR) court denying Appellant's PCR petitions, holding that the PCR court misconstrued aspects of the relevant law.In his speedy trial petitions, Defendant argued that his rights to a speedy trial had been violated and that his trial counsel provided ineffective assistance by failing to raise his speedy trial claims. The PCR court denied the petition. Thereafter, Defendant sought a certificate of probable cause. The Supreme Judicial Court vacated the judgment below, holding (1) the PCR court utilized a faulty analysis in concluding that there was no merit to Defendant's speedy trial claim; and (2) because the PCR court did not analyze counsel's strategy in failing to assert Defendant's right to a speedy trial the case must be remanded. View "Winchester v. State" on Justia Law