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Maine Supreme Judicial Court Announces Trial Courts Must Rigorously Scrutinize Reliability of Expert Testimony in Unrecognized Forensic Fields, Holding Trial Court Erred in Admitting Forensic Podiatry...

Article • February 1, 2026 • from CLN March, 2026

Filed under: Forensic Sciences, Evidence - Integrity/Reliability of, Daubert Standards, Expert and Opinion Testimony, Improper Comments

Maine Supreme Judicial Court Announces Trial Courts Must Rigorously Scrutinize Reliability of Expert Testimony in Unrecognized Forensic Fields, Holding Trial Court Erred in Admitting Forensic Podiatry Footprint-Comparison Testimony Without a Demonstrated by Douglas Ankney by Doug Ankney In a unanimous decision, the Supreme Judicial Court of Maine held that the …

Maine Supreme Judicial Court Announces Waiver of Privilege Against Compelled Self-Incrimination Must Be “Clear and Unequivocal” Under Maine Constitution, Joining States That Provide Greater Prote...

Article • November 15, 2025 • from CLN December, 2025

Filed under: Constitution, state, After Request for Counsel, Self-Incrimination Clause, Invocation of Rights, Voluntary Nature/Voluntariness

Maine Supreme Judicial Court Announces Waiver of Privilege Against Compelled Self-Incrimination Must Be “Clear and Unequivocal” Under Maine Constitution, Joining States That Provide Greater Protection Than Federal Standard by David Kim by David Kim The Supreme Judicial Court of Maine held that waiver of the privilege against compelled self-incrimination under …

Maine Supreme Judicial Court Vacates Conviction Based on Confrontation Clause Where Toxicologist Testified About Toxicology Tests Performed by Others, Which SCOTUS Rejected in Smith v. Arizona

Article • October 15, 2025 • from CLN November, 2025

Filed under: Forensic Sciences, Testimonial Statements, Crime Lab Reports, Hearsay Evidence, Expert and Opinion Testimony

Maine Supreme Judicial Court Vacates Conviction Based on Confrontation Clause Where Toxicologist Testified About Toxicology Tests Performed by Others, Which SCOTUS Rejected in Smith v. Arizona by Douglas Ankney by Douglas Ankney The Supreme Judicial Court of Maine vacated Rochelle Gleason’s conviction for aggravated trafficking of a scheduled drug that …

First Circuit Holds No Emergency-Aid Exception to Warrant Requirement Where Police Have Information That Subject Is Already Deceased

Article • February 15, 2025 • from CLN March, 2025

Filed under: Emergency Aid Doctrine, Police/Govt Misconduct, Warrants - Requirements/Scope/Exceptions, Statements By a Deceased Person

First Circuit Holds No Emergency-Aid Exception to Warrant Requirement Where Police Have Information That Subject Is Already Deceased by Anthony Accurso by Anthony W. Accurso The United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit held that the Government failed to satisfy its burden of proof that the emergency-aid exception …

First Circuit: Defendant’s Statement ‘I guess I’ll wait until I have a lawyer’ Is Unequivocal Invocation of Right to Counsel

Article • May 15, 2024 • from CLN May, 2024

Filed under: Confessions - Admissibility, Invocation of Rights

First Circuit: Defendant’s Statement ‘I guess I’ll wait until I have a lawyer’ Is Unequivocal Invocation of Right to Counsel by Sam Rutherford by Sam Rutherford The U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit held that a defendant’s statement in response to Miranda warnings that “I guess my best …

Maine Supreme Court: Defense Counsel Ineffective for Opening Door to Otherwise Inadmissible Evidence of Bad Character

Article • April 15, 2024 • from CLN April, 2024

Filed under: Parental rights, Counsel - Effective Assistance of, Strickland Standard, Failure to Preserve Challenge, Failure to Consult/Investigate/Raise, Battered Child/Spouse Evidence, Character/Reputation/Propensity, Bad Acts Evidence

Maine Supreme Court: Defense Counsel Ineffective for Opening Door to Otherwise Inadmissible Evidence of Bad Character by Matthew Clarke by Matt Clarke The Supreme Judicial Court of Maine reversed a defendant’s domestic violence conviction after finding her attorney was ineffective for opening the door to prejudicial evidence about her parenting …

Understanding Fusion Centers

Article • March 15, 2024 • from CLN March, 2024

Filed under: Police State-Surveillance, Electronic Surveillance

Understanding Fusion Centers by Michael Thompson by Michael Dean Thompson Introduction After 9/11, authorities determined the event was possible due to a failure of the various intelligence agencies to communicate with each other and share their information, data, insights, and discoveries. In 2007, Eben Kaplan wrote for the Council on …

HRDC v. Maine County Commissioners Association Self-Funder Risk Management Pool, ME, Order, Denial of FOIA Request, 2023

Brief • December 21, 2023

Filed under: Freedom of Information Act (FOIA)

HRDC v. Maine County Commissioners Association Self-Funder Risk Management Pool, ME, Order, Denial of FOIA Request, 2023 STATE OF MAINE KENNEBEC, ss. SUPERIOR COURT CIVIL ACTION DOCKET NO. CV-21-131 HUMAN RIGHTS DEFENSE CENTER, Plaintiff, V. MAINE COUNTY COMMISSIONERS ASSOCIATION SELF-FUNDED RISK MANAGEMENT POOL, Defendant ) ) ) ) ) ORDER …

Maine Supreme Judicial Court Announces Clarification of Test for Violation of Right to Speedy Trial Under Maine Constitu-tion

Article • December 15, 2023 • from CLN December, 2023

Filed under: Barker Factors, Speedy Trial, Failure to Preserve Challenge

Maine Supreme Judicial Court Announces Clarification of Test for Violation of Right to Speedy Trial Under Maine Constitu-tion by David Reutter by David M. Reutter The Supreme Judicial Court of Maine concluded a post-conviction review (“PCR”) court misconstrued aspects of relevant law concerning a claim that counsel’s failure to assert …

People of Maine at Forefront of Battle to Keep Government Security Apparatus in Check

Article • November 1, 2023 • from CLN November, 2023

Filed under: Racial Discrimination, Racial Profiling, Police State-Surveillance, Electronic Surveillance

People of Maine at Forefront of Battle to Keep Government Security Apparatus in Check by Douglas Ankney by Douglas Ankney The people of Maine have made a bold step in corralling the “unaccountable power of fusion centers” with the passage of HP 947, An Act to Increase the Transparency and …

Digital Voiceprinting Is Not Ready for Court

Article • October 1, 2023 • from CLN October, 2023

Filed under: junk science, Electronic Surveillance

Digital Voiceprinting Is Not Ready for Court by Anthony Accurso by Anthony W. Accurso New techniques using artificial intelligence to analyze voices fall short of meeting the standard for court admissibility, but that hasn’t stopped police from coercing plea deals out of defendants while claiming the “evidence” against them is …

HRDC v. MCCA Self Funded Risk Management, ME, Settlement Check, 2023

Brief • September 1, 2023

Filed under: Public Records Act

HRDC v. MCCA Self Funded Risk Management, ME, Settlement Check, 2023 PretiFlaherty Portland, ME Augusta, ME Concord, NH Jeffrey T. Edwards jedwards@prn:i.com 207.791.3209 Boston, MA Washington, DC September 1, 2023 VIA EMAIL heiden<@aclumaine.org Zachary L. Heiden, Esq. ALCU P.O. Box 7860 Portland, ME 04112-760 RE: Human Rights Defense Center v. …

HRDC v. Maine County Commissioners Risk Management, ME, Decision and Order, Public Records, 2023

Brief • August 22, 2023

Filed under: Public Records

HRDC v. Maine County Commissioners Risk Management, ME, Decision and Order, Public Records, 2023 MAINE SUPREME JUDICIAL COURT Decision: 2023 ME 56 Docket: Ken-22-420 Argued: June 8, 2023 Decided: August 22, 2023 Panel: Reporter of Decisions STANFILL, C.J., and MEAD, HORTON, CONNORS, LAWRENCE, and DOUGLAS, JJ. HUMAN RIGHTS DEFENSE CENTER …

First Circuit Announces ‘Knowingly’ Violating § 922(g)(9) Requires Proof Defendant Knew He Belonged to Category of Persons Prohibited from Possessing Firearms, Mere Knowledge of ‘Features’ of Prior Of...

Article • August 15, 2022 • from CLN September, 2022

Filed under: Possession or Use of Firearms, Knowingly and Voluntarily Made

First Circuit Announces ‘Knowingly’ Violating § 922(g)(9) Requires Proof Defendant Knew He Belonged to Category of Persons Prohibited from Possessing Firearms, Mere Knowledge of ‘Features’ of Prior Offense Insufficient by Richard Resch by Richard Resch The U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit held that the U.S. District Court …

Maine’s Law Enforcement Agencies, Like Those of Most States, Don’t Track Complaints Against Police Officers

Article • July 15, 2022 • from CLN August, 2022

Filed under: Police Misconduct, Official Report

Maine’s Law Enforcement Agencies, Like Those of Most States, Don’t Track Complaints Against Police Officers by Douglas Ankney by Douglas Ankney The WMTW 8 Investigates Team partnered with the Maine Freedom of Information Coalition to review hundreds of documents and other data obtained from 135 Maine law enforcement agencies (“Agencies”). …

Dinsmore v. State of Maine, ME, Settlement, Discrimination, 2022

Brief • May 20, 2022

Filed under: Discrimination, Gender Discrimination -- Women

Dinsmore v. State of Maine, ME, Settlement, Discrimination, 2022 SETTLEMENT AGREEMENT AND GENERAL RELEASE Autumn N. Dinsmore ("Dinsmore") of Rockland, Maine; the State of Maine and the Maine Department of Corrections (the "Employer"); Joel Parsons of Edgecomb, Maine; and Dale Tobey, Jr., of Pittston, Maine (the "Individuals''), (collectively the "State …

Maine Now Requires Criminal Conviction Before Property May Be Forfeited

Article • May 15, 2022 • from CLN June, 2022

Filed under: Forfeiture

Maine Now Requires Criminal Conviction Before Property May Be Forfeited by Douglas Ankney by Douglas Ankney Maine passed LD 1521 without the governor’s signature to become the fourth state in the nation to abolish civil asset forfeiture, requiring instead a criminal conviction before property may be forfeited. The law took …

Sparks v. Mills, ME, Settlement Agreement, Jobless Benefits, 2022

Brief • April 26, 2022

Filed under: Work Release

Sparks v. Mills, ME, Settlement Agreement, Jobless Benefits, 2022 Case 2:20-cv-00190-LEW Document 47-1 Filed 04/26/22 Page 1 of 22 PageID #: 317 Exhibit 1 Settlement Agreement and Release Subject to Court approval, Representative Plaintiff Marc Sparks, individually, and on behalf of a class of other persons, and Defendants Janet Mills, …

State of Maine-An Act to Prohibit Excessive Telephone Charges in Maine Jails and Prisons, 2022

Publication • April 15, 2022

Filed under: Telephones

State of Maine-An Act to Prohibit Excessive Telephone Charges in Maine Jails and Prisons, 2022 APPROVED CHAPTER APRIL 15, 2022 615 BY GOVERNOR PUBLIC LAW STATE OF MAINE _____ IN THE YEAR OF OUR LORD TWO THOUSAND TWENTY-TWO _____ H.P. 853 - L.D. 1175 An Act To Prohibit Excessive Telephone …

Dinsmore v. State of Maine, ME, Complaint, Discrimination, 2022

Brief • February 11, 2022

Filed under: Discrimination, Gender Discrimination -- Women

Dinsmore v. State of Maine, ME, Complaint, Discrimination, 2022 Case 1:21-cv-00194-JAW Document 21 Filed 02/11/22 Page 1 of 48 PageID #: 332 United States District Court District of Maine Autumn Dinsmore, ) ) Plaintiff ) ) v. ) ) State of Maine, Department of ) Corrections; Joel Parsons; and ) …