All across Maine, there are people charged with crimes who wait years for their cases to be resolved — even though they have a constitutional right to a fair and speedy trial.

Maine law doesn’t specify what constitutes a trial “speedy.” A bill in the Legislature would define this constitutional right by creating deadlines.

Under legislation from Rep. Matt Moonen, D-Portland, charges would be dismissed if a defendant waits longer than six months to two years for a trial, depending on the severity of their alleged crimes.

Moonen, the House majority leader, said in a public hearing Monday that LD 340 would protect both criminally charged Mainers and victims who “wait years before their day in court.”

He also believes the bill will either force prosecutors to prioritize which cases are worth their time, or incentivize the state to invest more resources into a court system that can handle this workload.

“When criminal trials are unreasonably delayed, everyone in the criminal justice system loses,” Carol Garvan, legal director for the American Civil Liberties Union of Maine, said at the public hearing.

The ACLU is suing the state for failing to provide enough lawyers for its constitutionally entitled defendants. Following a hearing in January, a judge is still considering whether to release unrepresented defendants from jail.

Prosecutors, police and even the state’s crime lab said Monday that they don’t have the resources to meet the proposed speedy trial deadlines without compromising public safety.

Neil McLean Jr., the district attorney for Androscoggin, Franklin and Oxford counties, said the criminal justice system is going through multiple crises.

Courts don’t have the staff or judges to conduct enough trials per month, McLean said. Nor are there enough attorneys available to defend everyone who’s being charged. Prosecutors are carrying massive caseloads, even if they’re filing fewer cases than in previous years, because McLean said they can’t ignore what police bring them.

“That’s not the way crime works,” McLean said in the public hearing. “Crime happens and we have to address it. That’s our obligation.”

GRADUAL IMPLEMENTATION

Moonen first pitched a speedy trial act in 2023, which passed both chambers but failed in appropriations. That same year, Maine’s highest court invited the Legislature to further define what a “speedy trial” entails while considering the case of a man who waited three years for a trial. He faced several burglary, theft and criminal mischief charges.

Moonen is proposing a four-year rollout of the new deadlines, starting with cases filed after Jan. 1, 2027. 

The bill starts with a two-year deadline for all Class A crimes (including murder), a 15-month deadline for all Class B and C crimes, and a one-year deadline for Class D and E crimes.

By Jan. 1, 2031, there would be a nine-month deadline for Class B and C crimes and a six-month deadline for Class D and E crimes.

For all cases, the clock would start ticking once a defendant has been arraigned, which occurs after they have been indicted by a grand jury. Sometimes, that’s more than a month after a person has been criminally charged, which Moonen suggested makes the bill even more generous.

He told lawmakers that these deadlines would be among the least strict in the nation, especially for Class A crimes.

“I do not view this bill as overly ambitious,” Moonen said. “I think this is the bare minimum of a starting place.”

Moonen’s bill is not retroactive, and it won’t create a deadline for any cases filed before 2027.

Rep. Rachel Henderson, R-Rumford, asked whether long-standing cases might be negatively affected by having to compete for court resources against new cases.

Henderson also questioned whether comparing Maine to other states is fair. Maine was the last state in the nation to open a public defender’s office.  Valerie Stanfill, chief justice of the Maine Supreme Judicial Court, recently told lawmakers that Maine is behind all the other states, and Washington D.C., when it comes to paying judges.

“This might not be a perfectly fair comparison, to compare the state of Maine’s timeline against other states,” Henderson said.

‘LIKE WE’RE FLYING BLIND’

Lawmakers asked several times for data on how long it takes to process criminal cases.

Most of the data they got was anecdotal at best. They have requested more specific data from the judicial branch and prosecutors for a work session that has yet to be scheduled.

“We don’t have data on why this is taking so long,” said Rep. David Sinclair, D-Bath. “It feels right now like we’re flying blind.”

Frayla Tarpinian, who leads the public defender office in Augusta, said her attorneys have handled six trials since opening more than a year ago.

These defendants have waited anywhere from six months for an OUI case to more than two years for a felony.

“By creating the speedy trial deadline, this body can act to increase efficiency and make the system more fair,” Tarpinian said.

Shira Burns, director of the Maine Prosecutors Association, supports moving cases faster, because it’s better for victims. The Maine Coalition to End Domestic Violence agreed, also supporting the bill’s policy goals, but urged lawmakers to consider victim-centered rights, including the ability to object if a defendant asks to delay their case.

But Burns disproved of a bill that would call for dismissals based on how long a case has been languishing, and not based on the alleged crime.

“I think that’s what’s worrisome, Burns said. “With this bill, we’re just putting these timelines on them, instead of looking at the root causes.”