Maine’s top judge has said she wants the state’s courts to be more open and accessible to the public — including allowing for online access to records the public would otherwise have to view at a courthouse. “The public deserves electronic access to its government,” Leigh Saufley, chief justice of the Maine Supreme Judicial Court, […]
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Posted inLewiston-Auburn
Bates professor explains why eyewitness IDs not always reliable
LEWISTON — Eyewitness identifications of criminal defendants are often unreliable and can be influenced by many factors, Bates College Professor Amy Bradfield Douglass said Thursday. Douglass, who holds a doctorate in psychology and has appeared as an expert witness in state and federal courtrooms throughout New England, was speaking Thursday in Callahan Hall at Lewiston […]
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Posted inMaine, sj-web
Minot man awarded $300,000 in malpractice claim against Jan Kippax
Dr. Jan Kippax attends a hearing before the Maine Board of Dental Examiners in Augusta in September. AUGUSTA — Jurors on Monday found that Dr. Jan Kippax and his oral surgery business in Lewiston were negligent in treating a patient in 2011, and awarded a Minot man $300,000 in damages. The verdict followed 2½ hours […]
Posted inMaine, sj-web
Windham man sentenced to 6 years after 9th and 10th drunken-driving convictions
Patrick Murphy confers with his attorney, David Bobrow, during Murphy’s sentencing hearing Friday at the Cumberland County Courthouse. Bobrow said after the hearing that Murphy “will use his opportunity while he’s incarcerated to engage in significant treatment and deal with his battles with alcoholism.” A Windham man was sentenced to six years in prison Friday […]
Posted inMaine, sj-web
Digital court records task force wants to restrict public access
As Maine undergoes a $15 million project to digitize its court records, open-access advocates are criticizing a task force recommendation that would limit some court files to lawyers and involved parties — forcing anyone else to physically travel to a local courthouse to view the same public records. “The public does not benefit from a […]
Posted inLewiston-Auburn
Animal cruelty charge against Greene man to be dropped
Michael Herrmann LEWISTON — A felony charge against a Greene man accused of using martial arts to subdue and strangle a pair of cats in March will be dropped in 18 months if he complies with conditions of the dismissal. Michael Herrmann, 47, appeared in 8th District Court in Lewiston on Monday where he agreed […]
Posted inMaine, sj-web
ACLU, Planned Parenthood sue to expand abortion access in Maine
Leslie Sneddon, left, makes a point at an anti-abortion protest outside a Planned Parenthood clinic at 443 Congress St. in downtown Portland in 2014. PORTLAND (AP) — The American Civil Liberties Union and Planned Parenthood filed a federal lawsuit Wednesday that challenges a Maine restriction common across most of the U.S. that abortions be performed […]
Posted inMaine
Maine’s probate courts may get long-delayed overhaul
AUGUSTA — Fifty years ago, the voters of Maine approved a constitutional amendment that repealed their historic right to elect probate judges in each county. But the referendum didn’t actually set a date for when that would happen. Instead, it was supposed to take place when the Legislature worked out how to create a new […]
Posted inMaine
Maine’s funding for court-appointed lawyers runs out
AUGUSTA (AP) — Attorneys in Maine appointed to defend people who can’t afford a lawyer will have to wait nearly two months to get paid after state funding ran out. The Portland Press Herald reported (http://bit.ly/2q1ryKN ) court-appointed lawyers won’t get paid until the new fiscal year, which starts July 1. John Pelletier, executive director […]
Posted inMaine
Case files in attic had evidence Sanborn’s defense team never saw
PORTLAND (AP) — A lawyer trying to overturn a decades-old murder conviction says case files recently returned to police by a retired detective contained critical evidence that was never shown to the defense. The Portland Press Herald reported (http://bit.ly/2qsZOf2 ) the lawyer, Amy Fairfield, said in court filings that the boxes had been stored in […]