State v. Leblanc-Simpson
| Decision Date | 26 July 2018 |
| Docket Number | Docket: Cum-17-474 |
| Citation | 190 A.3d 1015 |
| Parties | STATE of Maine v. Ezra LEBLANC-SIMPSON |
| Court | Maine Supreme Court |
Lawrence C. Winger, Esq. (orally), Portland, for appellant Ezra LeBlanc-Simpson
Stephanie Anderson, District Attorney, and Jonathan T. Sahrbeck, Asst. Dist. Atty. (orally), Cumberland County District Attorney's Office, Portland, for appellee State of Maine
Panel: SAUFLEY, C.J., and ALEXANDER, MEAD, GORMAN, JABAR, and HJELM, JJ.
[¶ 1] This appeal presents the question of whether a person who has conditions of release set by a judicial officer can be convicted of violation of a condition of release, 15 M.R.S. § 1092(1)(B) (2017), for acts committed while in jail after not securing release on bail. The Bail Code specifies that "[a] condition of release takes effect and is fully enforceable as of the time the judicial officer sets the condition ...." 15 M.R.S. § 1026(7) (2017). The Bail Code also requires that the judicial officer shall provide the defendant with a written statement of the conditions of release, 15 M.R.S. § 1026(5)(A) (2017), and advise the defendant of "[t]he penalties for and consequences of violating a condition of release," 15 M.R.S. § 1026(5)(B)(2) (2017).
[¶ 2] Ezra LeBlanc-Simpson appeals from a judgment of conviction for twelve counts of violating a condition of release (Class C), 15 M.R.S. § 1092(1)(B), entered in the Unified Criminal Docket (Cumberland County, Mills, J. ) following a bench trial. LeBlanc-Simpson challenges the application of conditions of release to him while he remained incarcerated. He also contends that he was not provided with adequate notice of the conditions of release or of the penalties for violating conditions of release while he remained incarcerated, as required by 15 M.R.S. § 1026(5) (2017).1
[¶ 3] Because the State presented insufficient evidence that LeBlanc-Simpson was provided with notice of the conditions of release applicable to him while he was in jail, we must vacate the judgment.
[¶ 4] Viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to the State, the trial court could have found the following facts beyond a reasonable doubt. State v. Beckwith , 2015 ME 72, ¶ 10, 117 A.3d 1049.
[¶ 5] On October 20, 2016, LeBlanc-Simpson was arrested and charged with reckless conduct with a dangerous weapon (Class C), 17-A M.R.S. §§ 211(1), 1252(4) (2017), criminal threatening with a dangerous weapon (Class C), 17-A M.R.S. §§ 209(1), 1252(4) (2017), and two counts of violating a condition of release (Class E), 15 M.R.S. § 1092(1)(A) (2017). On October 21, 2016, the State filed a notice joining LeBlanc-Simpson's case with a case against another person, making that person a co-defendant with LeBlanc-Simpson. See M.R.U. Crim. P. 8(b).
[¶ 6] LeBlanc-Simpson made his initial appearance in court on October 21, 2016. Cash bail was set by the court at $10,000 with conditions of release. The conditions of release provided that LeBlanc-Simpson shall (1) not use any alcoholic beverages or illegal drugs, (2) not possess any alcoholic beverages or illegal drugs, (3) not possess any dangerous weapons, including, but not limited to, firearms, (4) submit to searches of his person, vehicle and residence, and, if applicable, to chemical tests at any time without articulable suspicion or probable cause, and (5) have no direct or indirect contact with the co-defendant.
[¶ 7] The conditions of release form was signed by the judge but was not signed by LeBlanc-Simpson. The record from the trial does not include a transcript of the initial appearance hearing or any other evidence addressing whether or not, at that hearing, the judge specifically advised LeBlanc-Simpson of the conditions of release or, as required by 15 M.R.S. § 1026(5)(B)(2), of "[t]he penalties for and consequences of violating a condition of release ...."
[¶ 8] LeBlanc-Simpson did not post the required $10,000 bail and remained in the Cumberland County Jail. Between November 7, 2016, and December 12, 2016, while he remained in jail, LeBlanc-Simpson made numerous telephone calls to the co-defendant.
[¶ 9] On April 7, 2017, the Cumberland County grand jury returned a twelve-count indictment against LeBlanc-Simpson alleging twelve instances of telephone contact with the co-defendant, constituting violations of his conditions of release pursuant to 15 M.R.S. § 1092(1)(B). Pursuant to M.R.U. Crim. P. 23(a), LeBlanc-Simpson waived his right to a jury trial and opted for a trial before a judge.
[¶ 10] A two-day bench trial was held in October 2017. During the trial, the State's evidence included certified copies of (i) the docket entries, showing LeBlanc-Simpson's initial appearance in court on October 21, 2016, and (ii) the conditions of release form signed by the judge at that proceeding. The evidence at trial did not include the transcript or recording of the initial appearance hearing or any document or testimony indicating that LeBlanc-Simpson was advised of, made aware of, or acknowledged any of the conditions of release or the consequences of violation of any of the conditions of release.
[¶ 11] The State did enter in evidence recordings of phone calls made by LeBlanc-Simpson and played some segments of the relevant calls for the court. The State also presented evidence identifying LeBlanc-Simpson as the caller and the co-defendant as the person receiving the telephone calls.
[¶ 12] During one of the calls played for the court, the conversation between LeBlanc-Simpson and the co-defendant suggested that both knew they were not supposed to be talking to one another:
[¶ 13] LeBlanc-Simpson was found guilty of all twelve counts of violating a condition of release by having contact with his co-defendant. The court's findings were based on the docket entry and conditions of release form showing that LeBlanc-Simpson appeared personally before the court for his initial appearance and bail was set at $10,000 with conditions. The court also found that the conditions of release were in effect at the times the violations occurred. The court acknowledged that the phone calls were not "threatening in any way" towards the co-defendant but were merely about
[¶ 14] LeBlanc-Simpson was sentenced to concurrent ten-month periods of incarceration on each of the twelve counts of violating a condition of release, to be served concurrently with his sentence in the underlying case for reckless conduct with a dangerous weapon (Class C), criminal threatening with a dangerous weapon (Class C), and two counts of violating different conditions of release (Class E). LeBlanc-Simpson timely filed a notice of appeal of the twelve-count conviction.2 M.R. App. P. 2B(b)(1).
[¶ 15] On a challenge to the sufficiency of the evidence to support a conviction after trial, we view the evidence, and all reasonable inferences that may be drawn from that evidence, in the light most favorable to the trial court's judgment to determine whether the fact-finder rationally could have found each element of the charged offense proved beyond a reasonable doubt. State v. Cummings , 2017 ME 143, ¶ 12, 166 A.3d 996 ; State v. Murphy , 2016 ME 5, ¶ 5, 130 A.3d 401.
[¶ 16] LeBlanc-Simpson argues that the conditions of release order could not apply to him because he had not posted bail and had not been released from jail to make the conditions of release applicable. Contrary to LeBlanc-Simpson's argument, the Bail Code specifies, "A condition of release takes effect and is fully enforceable as of the time the judicial officer sets the condition, unless that bail order expressly excludes it from immediate applicability." 15 M.R.S. § 1026(7). The bail order introduced in evidence contained no such exclusion and thus, by law, was effective when entered at the initial appearance hearing.
[¶ 17] To convict LeBlanc-Simpson of violating a condition of release, the State was required to prove that (1) the defendant was granted pre-conviction or postconviction bail and (2) the defendant, in fact, violated a condition of release. See 15 M.R.S. § 1092 (2017).
[¶ 18] Violation of a condition of release is a "strict liability crime," 15 M.R.S. § 1092(3), meaning that proof of a culpable state of mind is not required to secure a conviction, see 17-A M.R.S. § 34(4-A) (2017). However, as the State acknowledged at oral argument, for LeBlanc-Simpson to be convicted of the charge of violation of a condition of release, the State was required to offer evidence and prove that LeBlanc-Simpson had prior knowledge of the relevant conditions of release and that those conditions of release were applicable to him while he remained incarcerated.
[¶ 19] The State's acknowledgement that it had to prove that LeBlanc-Simpson had notice of the conditions of release he was accused of violating recognizes basic standards of due process. Those standards...
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