State of Maine v. Robinson

Superior Court of Maine·Decided November 18, 2013·No. KENcr-13-335·Unpublished

Opinion

STATE OF MAINE SUPERIOR COURT KENNEBEC, SS. CRIMINAL ACTION DocketNo. CR-13-335/ I

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V. VERDICT ROBERT A. ROBINSON, Defendant

By indictment dated May 29, 2013, the Defendant is charged with three Class C counts, Domestic Violence Assault (Count I), Domestic Violence Criminal Threatening (Count II), and Domestic Violence Terrorizing (Count III). Defendant waived his right to a jury trial and the matter was heard before the court.

The Defendant and the victim, Jessica Luiz, have been domestic partners, on and off, for approximately five years, living at a residence on the Hallowell Road in Chelsea. Defendant's parents live nearby. Defendant has a history of very assaultive behavior and anti-social personality disorder going back to his very early years. He had suffered serious head injuries in two motorcycle accidents, the latest in 2012, resulting in some cognitive challenges. He has been under the care of a psychiatrist with a diagnosis of major neurocognitive disorder due to traumatic brain injury; nonrapid eye movement sleep disorder; history of polysubstance abuse, including alcohol; and preinjury personality disorder I traits with anti-social behavior among other things. Defendant has had great difficulty controlling his emotions without proper medication and has become subject to very violent outbursts. In addition, he is very controlling in his relationship with Ms. Luiz; she is very agreeable and vulnerable to such control. There is some indication that both the Defendant and Ms. Luiz have been unfaithful to this relationship. Defendant's jealousy, as well as perceived outside affairs on the part of Ms. Luiz, have aggravated his difficulty in controlling his emotions. Over the years of

their relationship, Ms. Luiz testified that there have been occasions of the Defendant assaulting her. In fact, Ms. Luiz testified that on the morning of April12 the Defendant slapped her.

On April 10, one of these outbursts occurred with the Defendant placing a pillowcase over the head of Ms. Luiz and advising her that he had a knife, or a razor, which he would use to "slit her throat" in order to "teach her a lesson." During this episode, he further advised Ms. Luiz that he would use the knife to cut off her clitoris and that he had some airplane glue that he would use to reattach her clitoris so that she would not, "do a lot of bleeding for the emergency room." In this episode, the Defendant also told Ms. Luiz that he had "dug a hole in the woods and that she would fit in that hole perfectly." He threatened to cut her wrists so it would look like a suicide and he would put her in the hole to "make you disappear and no one would know."

Ms. Luiz testified that all of this activity caused her to become hysterical. She admits that at no time did he place the knife to her throat, that he only used words. She stated, "He sometimes is a lot of talk," and testified further, "I knew eventually he would snap." There is no evidence that Ms. Luiz notified any authorities of this incident.

Over the course of the next couple of days, the Defendant became more and more agitated. On April 12th he and Ms. Luiz visited his psychiatrist at Riverview where he advised the psychiatrist that he was "afraid he would do something he would later regret." He asked to be given Seroquel and Klonopin to decrease his agitation. He stated was afraid he would do something bad and "lose his girlfriend." The psychiatrist called in the prescription which was filled, and that afternoon Ms. Luis gave the medication to Mr. Robinson. 1 Defendant went to bed and fell asleep about 2:30

1 There is also some sugge5tion that Defendant's case manager was told that Defendant also took an Ambien. Ms. Luiz did not indicate knowledge of that event but allowed there was Ambien in the house.

in the afternoon and at 7:00p.m., Ms. Luiz found him in the bed and that he was "out like a light." Shortly after midnight, Defendant jumped up out of the bed and said to Ms. Luiz, "You made me late," "Its all your fault," "I can't believe you." Saying those things, he proceeded to start whipping Ms. Luiz with a belt and striking her. When she played dead to escape his wrath, he stated, "There is nothing wrong with you." She described the Defendant as having blazing eyes and growling. At some point he pushed her violently to the floor where she suffered great pain.

At some point the Defendant stopped his activities and went to sit at the kitchen table. Ms. Luiz, in her pajamas, ran out the door to lock herself in the car. The Defendant chased her, falling to the ground in the process. When he reached the car, he calmly asked her whether she had the keys and when she denied having the key, he calmly said, "Then come back into the house". Ms. Luiz went into the house and sat at the table while the Defendant went into a side room. Approximately ten minutes later, the Defendant came out of the room, again with the belt, and proceeded to start whipping Ms. Luiz again. He had also acquired a broken broom handle and started hitting her on her head. As she attempted to protect her head with her hands, she received significant injury to her hands. As suddenly as it had begun, the Defendant then stopped and he said, "Let's go to bed," and acted like nothing had happened. The whole episode took approximately one and a one-half hours.

Ms. Luiz had received injuries requiring medical attention, but, consistent with her history with the Defendant, she took a shower and waited for a visit from Defendant's mother, a customary event in the mornings. About two hours later, Defendant's mother arrived and observed Ms. Luiz's condition. She said that Ms. Luiz was upset, she was crying, and had marks on her face. She testified that she told Ms. Luiz to "go away for a while." Rather than notify authorities, Ms. Luiz got in her car

and drove to her mother's house in Monmouth. Her mother, seeing her condition, notified emergency medical personnel and law enforcement. While the call was handled as a medical emergency and not a criminal event as none was alleged, a Monmouth officer appeared in response to the medical call. The officer interviewed Ms. Luiz and took pictures of her condition. Ultimately, Ms. Luiz was taken to MaineGeneral Medical Center where she was interviewed by a Deputy Sheriff and further photographs were taken. Ms. Luiz did not want to make a criminal complaint or to take any action with regard to the incident. 2 When Ms. Luiz arrived at the home of her mother, Ms. Lapierre, she was upset, shaking, had difficulty putting sentences together and had marks on her body. Ms. Luiz would only say that, "he had hurt her." Ms. Luiz advised her mother of the belt, the broomstick, the pillow case, and the threatening with airplane glue. Ms. Lapierre was concerned that Ms. Luiz appeared to be hyperventilating Ms. Lapierre testified that she observed Ms. Luiz to have bite marks, black and blue marks, and swollen hands, and that over Ms. Luiz' s objections, Ms. Lapierre had Ms. Luiz prepare a statement for law enforcement and a complaint for protection from abuse.

The Defendant does not deny the events of April 10 but insists that Ms. Luiz was not in fear. As to the circumstances of April 12 and 13, the Defendant denies having any memory of any of the activities. Based upon all of the evidence, the facts as recited appear undisputed.

Ms. Luiz testified that on three previous occasions, the Defendant had gotten up from sleeping in the bed and engaged in very unusual behavior. She said he would pace the floor and act like he didn't see her. Sometimes these events would last as much

2 It is to be noted that approximately two weeks later, Ms. Luiz moved back into the house on Hallowell Road in Chelsea. She testified that still wished to live with Mr. Robinson and to marry him.

as an hour to an hour and a half. On one occasion, during these episodes, he ate an entire box of popsicles.

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State of Maine v. Robinson, (Me. Super. Ct. 2013).

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