State v. Levesque

Decision Date18 June 1951
Citation146 Me. 351,81 A.2d 665
CourtMaine Supreme Court
PartiesSTATE v. LEVESQUE.

Edward J. Beauchamp, County Atty., Irving Isaacson, Asst. County Atty., Lewiston, for State.

Irving Friedman, Lewiston, for respondent.

Before MURCHIE, C. J., and THAXTER, FELLOWS, MERRILL, NULTY, and WILLIAMSON, JJ.

NULTY, Justice.

At the 1947 January Term of the Superior Court for Androscoggin County the respondent was indicted for arson. The indictment contained six counts but before trial it was stipulated between the State and counsel for respondent, with the respondent's permission, that respondent was to be tried only on the first count. At the 1948 November Term the respondent was tried and found guilty. During the trial respondent excepted to certain rulings of the Court relating to the admission of certain evidence which exceptions were allowed. At the conclusion of the evidence, the respondent, through his counsel, moved for a directed verdict which motion was denied and exceptions allowed. After verdict and before sentence respondent moved the presiding justice that the verdict of guilty be set aside and a new trial granted. This motion was denied and respondent now brings his appeal from that ruling before the Law Court together with his bill of exceptions. For the purpose of the decision in this case we only deem it necessary to consider the appeal.

The printed case brought forward with the appeal shows that on October 6, 1946, the respondent was living with his parents at 10 Maple Street in Lewiston, Maine, in a second floor apartment of a brick dwelling house belonging to Joseph and Exilia Longtin which building or dwelling house is the one described and referred to in Count 1 of the indictment on which the respondent was tried and found guilty of the crime of arson.

The evidence for the State discloses that a captain of the Lewiston Fire Department, in response to a telephone call made at 9:34 P. M. on October 6, 1946, went with three fire trucks to 10 Maple Street and found some rubbish burning in the front part of the cellar of the brick building at that address; that there was some flame in the rubbish; that the fire was small and was extinguished with a booster tank and that the apparatus of the Fire Department was back at the Fire Station at 9:45 P. M. and at that time the records of the Fire Department show that the fire was of undetermined origin. The Captain further testified that he was quite sure the foundation of the building was of brick; that the rubbish was not piled but strewn around and scattered and that so far as he could remember the rubbish consisted of general rubbish, mostly paper, and that he could not swear that any partitions were burned. Another witness for the State who lived in an apartment on the first floor at 10 Maple Street and who was at that address on the date in question testified that shortly before 10 P. M. on October 6, 1946, he and his wife smelled smoke and discovered it came from the cellar. They went upstairs to the apartment of the respondent's parents and the wife of the witness telephoned the Fire Department. Thereafterwards the witness and the respondent's brother went down into the cellar and he recognized the respondent standing about three to four feet away from the rubbish that was ablaze; that some old paper and rubbish were burning and that the brother carried the respondent upstairs to the first floor in his arms. Witness further testified that after the fire was put out by the Fire Department he went downstairs and looked around and found 'just old scrap paper, that is all.' He also testified that the cellar was divided by wooden partitions that ran from the floor to the ceiling; that he did not discover that any of the boards making up the partitions were burned. Another witness, a member of the Lewiston Police Force, testified that he arrived at the scene a few seconds after the Fire Department; that he went down cellar, saw a little smoke, that a fire being put out by a booster line; that the cellar was divided into eight compartments; that outside the compartments there was space to walk through; that he did not remember what part of the cellar the fire was in except that it was more towards the front of the building; that he made no investigation of the area burned in the cellar. Two other witnesses for the State, Police Officers of the City of Lewiston, testified that on October 6, 1946, at about 9:45 P. M., in response to a call concerning a disturbance, they drove to St. Mary's Rectory and saw the respondent sitting on the steps of the Rectory; that he was intoxicated; that he staggered; that his speech was incoherent; that he smelled strongly of beer and that he stated that he had just started a fire in the cellar of his house at 10 Maple Street; that respondent was taken in the police car to the station and booked for intoxication and that during the ride to the Police Station respondent seemed to have what the officers termed a 'crying jag' and mumbled to himself. The next day, October 7, 1946, the respondent was interviewed by a Captain of the Lewiston Police Department in the presence of another police officer and at that time the respondent was advised of his rights and he stated that he had set the fire at 10 Maple Street; that he went to the cellar where he picked up a piece of cardboard and lit it with a match and placed the burning cardboard against a wooden partition and stayed their until the wood started to burn. The witness further testified that after he got the story from the respondent he transcribed it into the form of a statement and he identified the statement that he had made up following his conversation with the respondent; that he made it up the same morning he interviewed the respondent and that he read the statement to the respondent and that after certain corrections were made the statement was signed by the respondent. The statement, in the nature of a confession, as corrected was offered and duly admitted in evidence by the Court without objection and read to the jury. Another witness for the State, an officer of the Lewiston Police Department, testified that he was present at all times when the respondent was interviewed by the Captain.

In the view we take of the case it seems unnecessary to further detail or outline the other evidence. The question presented for determination is whether, upon all the evidence, the jury was warranted in finding beyond a reasonable doubt that the respondent was guilty of the crime of arson as charged in the first count of the indictment. Our Court said in State of Maine v. Caliendo, 136 Me. 169, 174, 4 A.2d 837, 840, with respect to the crime of arson: 'Arson is and always has been regarded as one of the most serious offenses known to the criminal law. It is a crime which is rarely committed in the open and in the presence of witnesses, is usually most difficult to prove, and often can only be established by circumstantial evidence. The State is bound to prove all the elements of the crime beyond a reasonable doubt. If it relies solely on circumstantial evidence to establish the guilt of the accused, as in all other felonies, it must prove each and every circumstance upon which a conviction must rest beyond a reasonable doubt, and the evidence must be sufficient to exclude beyond a reasonable doubt every other reasonable hypothesis except that of the respondent's guilt. State v. Richards, 85 Me. 252, 255, 27 A. 122; State v. Terrio, 98 Me. 17, 56 A. 217; State v. Cloutier, 134 Me. 269, 186 A. 604.'

It should be noted from the above quotation that it...

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14 cases
  • State v. Curlew
    • United States
    • Maine Supreme Court
    • 19 Abril 1983
    ...the extent that our comments have created doubts about the order-of-proof requirement, we now settle those doubts. In State v. Levesque, 146 Me. 351, 81 A.2d 665 (1951), the first modern application of a corpus delicti rule appears. 4 We stated that "the weight of authority in this country,......
  • State v. Peabody
    • United States
    • Maine Supreme Court
    • 22 Mayo 1974
    ...someone unlawfully caused this building to be burned. Arson may be established by the use of circumstantial evidence. 2 State v. Levesque, 146 Me. 351, 81 A.2d 665 (1951); State v. Caliendo, 136 Me. 169, 4 A.2d 837 (1939). This is likewise the law in other jurisdictions. People v. Bailey, 4......
  • State v. Wardwell
    • United States
    • Maine Supreme Court
    • 21 Agosto 1962
    ...150 Me. 242, 108 A.2d 261, our court said: 'We know the Hoffses case established a measure of some evidence as held in the Levesque case 146 Me. 351, 81 A.2d 665 to be such credible evidence as standing alone to create a really substantial belief that a crime had actually been In State v. M......
  • State v. Trask
    • United States
    • Maine Supreme Court
    • 10 Noviembre 1966
    ...due proof of the corpus delicti or the crime charged will not take the place of evidence and warrant a conviction. State of Maine v. Levesque, 146 Me. 351, 359, 81 A.2d 665; State v. Caliendo, 136 Me. 169, 175, 4 A.2d 837. Mere opportunity to commit the crime standing alone is not enough. W......
  • Request a trial to view additional results

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