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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 ) …

Maine Supreme Judicial Court Reverses Denial of Suppression Motion and Vacates Murder Conviction

Article • November 15, 2021 • from CLN December, 2021

Filed under: Unjust Conviction Statute, Motions To Suppress

Maine Supreme Judicial Court Reverses Denial of Suppression Motion and Vacates Murder Conviction by Douglas Ankney by Douglas Ankney The Supreme Judicial Court of Maine reversed the denial of Bruce Akers’ motion to suppress and vacated his murder conviction. On June 9, 2016, Akers called the local sheriff’s office and …

Study: Bloodstain Pattern Analyses Display Alarming Lack of Accuracy

Article • October 15, 2021 • from CLN November, 2021

Filed under: junk science

Study: Bloodstain Pattern Analyses Display Alarming Lack of Accuracy by Michael Fortino, Ph.D by Michael Fortino, Ph.D. In the summer of 2000, after discovering his wife and two small children fatally shot in the family’s car inside their garage, former Indiana State Trooper David Camm was arrested and charged with …

Reese v. Liberty, ME, Settlement Agreement, Excessive Force, 2021

Brief • September 10, 2021

Filed under: Excessive Force

Reese v. Liberty, ME, Settlement Agreement, Excessive Force, 2021 RELEASE AGREEMENT 1. In exchange for a payment of $115,000 and other good and valuable consideration, the receipt and sufficiency of which are hereby aclmowledged, Geoffrey Reese ("Releasor"), on behalf of himself and his successors, assigns, heirs, and agents, hereby releases …