State of Maine v. Watson

CourtSuperior Court of Maine
DecidedNovember 21, 2013
DocketKENcr-12-766
StatusUnpublished

This text of State of Maine v. Watson (State of Maine v. Watson) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Superior Court of Maine primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

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

Opinion

STATE OF MAINE SUPERIOR COURT KENNEBEC, ss. );focket No.: 12-CR-;f>.6 I ~- r.e.r..J- !//.;;_'/ ~o 0 1

STATE OF MAINE,

V. DECISION AND ORDER

JEDIDIAH D. WATSON,

Defendant

This matter is before the Court on Defendant's Motion to Dismiss Count I

(assault) of the Indictment. For purposes of this motion, the parties stipulate to the

following facts:

1. Defendant did not make physical contact with the alleged victim of the assault.

2. The alleged victim, Defendant's minor child, was born on September 8, 2011,

and was discharged from the hospital on September 10, 2011. When the alleged victim

was discharged from the hospital, the alleged victim weighed 5 pounds.

3. On November 7, 2011, the alleged victim weighed 5 pounds and 1 ounce.

Consistent with the stipulations set forth above, at the hearing on the motion, the

State conceded that the assault charge is not based on any physical contact between the

Defendant and the alleged victim. Instead, the State alleges that the assault charge results

from Defendant's failure to provide the alleged victim with basic sustenance, which

failure caused the alleged victim to suffer physical harm (i.e., lack of appreciable weight

1 gain). The issue is thus whether as a matter of law, a person can be guilty of assault in

the absence of physical contact of any kind between the person and the alleged victim.

Pursuant to 17-A M.R.S. § 207 (2012), a person is guilty of assault if "[t]he

person intentionally, knowingly or recklessly causes bodily injury or offensive physical

contact to another person." Given the disjunctive nature of the statute, a person can

commit an assault (1) by causing bodily injury, or (2) by offensive physical contact to

another person. While it is apparent from the plain language of the statute that some type

of physical contact is a necessary prerequisite to a successful prosecution of an assault

charge based on "offensive physical contact to another person," the question is whether

physical contact is necessary to prove an assault based on bodily injury.

In support of his motion, Defendant relies upon the First Circuit's interpretation

of§ 207 in U.S. v. Nason, 269 F.3d 10 (1 sr Cir. 2001). In Nason, the First Circuit wrote,

The breadth of conduct covered by the bodily injury branch of the Maine general-purpose assault statute unambiguously involves the use of physical force. In pertinent part, the statute criminalizes the "use of unlawful force against another causing bodily injury." [citation omitted] In turn, all three types of bodily injury specified by Maine's' criminal code (pain, illness, and impairment) contain the same adjectival modifier: "physical" Me.Rev .Stat.Ann. tit. 17-A § 2(5). Common sense supplies the missing piece of the puzzle: to cause physical injury, force necessarily must be physical in nature. Accordingly, physical force is a formal element of assault under the bodily injury branch of the Maine statute.

269 F.3d at 20. 1 The First Circuit's conclusion is consistent with the Law Court's

opinion in State v. Griffin, 459 A.2d 1086, 1091 (Me. 1983), where the Court defined

"intentionally, knowingly, or recklessly caus[ing] bodily injury ... to another," as "the

1 The First Circuit reiterated its conclusion in U.S. v. Duval, 496 F.3d 64, 84 (1st Cir. 2007), where the Court stated, "[b]oth variants of assault regulated under Maine's general-purpose assault statute necessarily involve the use of physical force."

2 knowingly intended use of unlawful force against another causing bodily injury as

statutorily defined."

The reasoning of the First Circuit is sound. As the First Circuit observed, the

statute criminalizes the use of physical force in certain instances (i.e., that which is

offensive and that which causes bodily injury). The Court, therefore, concludes that

where, as in this case, liability under the assault statute is based on a person causing

bodily injury, physical force is a necessary prerequisite for the imposition of liability.

Because the parties agree that the assault charge in this matter is not based on physical

contact between Defendant and the alleged victim, the Court grants Defendant's Motion

to Dismiss and dismisses Count I of the Indictment.

The Clerk shall incorporate this Decision and Order into the docket by reference.

Dated: ll(tctj;J Superior Court

3 STATE OF MAINE SUPERIOR COURT vs KENNEBEC, ss. JEDIDIAH WATSON Docket No AUGSC-CR-2012-00766 3 A MIDDLE ST LISBON FALLS ME 04252 DOCKET RECORD

DOB: 08/07/1979 Attorney: JEFFREY TOWNE State's Attorney: EVERT FOWLE 179 MAIN STREET STE 202 WATERVILLE ME 04901 APPOINTED 07/02/2013

Filing Document: INDICTMENT Major Case Type: FELONY (CLASS A,B,C) Filing Date: 09/19/2012

Charge(s)

1 ASSAULT 0910812011 AUGUSTA Seq 8383 17-A 207 (1) (B) Class C TRACY I AUG 2 ENDANGERING THE WELFARE OF A CHILD 0910812011 AUGUSTA Seq 4477 17-A 554 (1) (B-1) Class D TRACY I AUG

Docket Events:

09/20/2012 FILING DOCUMENT - INDICTMENT FILED ON 09/19/2012

TRANSFER - BAIL AND PLEADING GRANTED ON 09/19/2012

TRANSFER - BAIL AND PLEADING REQUESTED ON 09/19/2012

09/20/2012 Charge(s): 1,2 WARRANT- $10,000.00 ON COMP/INDICTMENT ORDERED ON 09/19/2012 M MICHAELA MURPHY , JUSTICE SURETY, OR $1,000 CASH, NO CONTACT WITH DESTINY WATSON, SANDRA YOUNG 09/20/2012 Charge(s): 1,2 WARRANT- $10,000.00 ON COMP/INDICTMENT ISSUED ON 09/20/2012

SURETY, OR $1,000 CASH, NO CONTACT WITH DESTINY WATSON, SANDRA YOUNG 09/20/2012 Charge(s): 1,2 WARRANT - ON COMP/INDICTMENT EXECUTED BY AGENCY ON 09/20/2012 at 07:52 p.m.

09/28/2012 MOTION - MOTION FOR APPOINTMENT OF CNSL FILED BY DEFENDANT ON 09/27/2012

10/01/2012 BAIL BOND- $1,000.00 CASH BAIL BOND FILED ON 10/01/2012

Bail Receipt Type: CR Bail Amt: $1,000 Receipt Type: CK Date Bailed: 10/01/2012 Prvdr Name: JOSEPH REEVE Rtrn Name: JOSEPH REEVE

BAIL DISBURSEMENT ON 04/04/2013 CR 200 Page 1 of 7 Printed on: 11/19/2013 JEDIDIAH WATSON AUGSC-CR-2012-00766 DOCKET RECORD

Check No. 9743 Check Amount: 1,000.00 Paid To: DISTRICT ATTORNEY'S OFFICE FORFEITED TO DA EXTRADITION ACCT

10/01/2012 Charge(s): 1,2 HEARING - ARRAIGNMENT HELD ON 09/26/2012 CHARLES DOW I JUDGE DA: TRACY DEVOLL Defendant Present in Court

READING WAIVED. DEFENDANT INFORMED OF CHARGES. COPY OF INDICTMENT/INFORMATION GIVEN TO DEFENDANT. 21 DAYS TO FILE MOTIONS 10/01/2012 Charge (s) : 1, 2 PLEA - NOT GUILTY ENTERED BY DEFENDANT ON 09/26/2012

10/01/2012 Charge(s): 1,2 TRIAL - DOCKET CALL SCHEDULED FOR 12/04/2012 at 08:45 a.m.

10/01/2012 BAIL BOND- $1,000.00 CASH BAIL BOND SET BY COURT ON 09/26/2012 CHARLES DOW IJUDGE OR 10,000 SURETY, NO CONTACT WITH DESTINY WATSON OR SANDRA YOUNG 4/16/1981, REVIEWABLE BY ANY JUSTICE ON ENTRY OF APPEARANCE OF COUNSEL, NO CONTACT WITH CHILDREN UNDER 5 YEARS OLD 10/04/2012 MOTION - MOTION FOR APPOINTMENT OF CNSL GRANTED ON 09/28/2012 NANCY MILLS I JUSTICE COPY TO PARTIES/COUNSEL 10/04/2012 Party(s): JEDIDIAH WATSON ATTORNEY - APPOINTED ORDERED ON 09/28/2012

Attorney: STEPHEN BOURGET 10/11/2012 MOTION - MOTION FOR EXTENSION OF TIME FILED BY DEFENDANT ON 10/10/2012

10/16/2012 MOTION - MOTION FOR EXTENSION OF TIME GRANTED ON 10/11/2012 JOHN NIVISON JUSTICE I

Defendant Present in Court

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

United States v. Nason
269 F.3d 10 (First Circuit, 2001)
United States v. Duval
496 F.3d 64 (First Circuit, 2007)
State v. Griffin
459 A.2d 1086 (Supreme Judicial Court of Maine, 1983)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
State of Maine v. Watson, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-of-maine-v-watson-mesuperct-2013.