State v. Dionne

505 A.2d 1321, 1986 Me. LEXIS 658
CourtSupreme Judicial Court of Maine
DecidedFebruary 25, 1986
StatusPublished
Cited by7 cases

This text of 505 A.2d 1321 (State v. Dionne) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Judicial 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 v. Dionne, 505 A.2d 1321, 1986 Me. LEXIS 658 (Me. 1986).

Opinion

WATHEN, Justice.

Defendant Robert L. Dionne appeals from his conviction of arson with intent to collect insurance proceeds, 17-A M.R.S.A. § 802(1)(B)(1) (1983), entered by the Superi- or Court (Androscoggin County) upon a jury verdict. Finding that none of defendant’s numerous claims of error requires reversal of his conviction, we deny the appeal.

*1322 I.

This case arises out of an April 14, 1984 fire that gutted a lake front cottage in Greene owned by defendant, who at the time was director of Lewiston’s Fire Prevention Bureau. Expert witnesses for both the prosecution and the defense testified that the fire began between 7:00 and 7:30 p.m. and had been set with the use of a flammable liquid accelerant.

Defendant acknowledged that he visited the cottage within 90 minutes prior to the fire’s ignition, offering the following explanation: He testified that he travelled from his home in Leeds to Lewiston to do his laundry. Due to his concern over recent break-ins at the cottage, including one he had discovered earlier that day, defendant stopped on his way to inspect the premises. Finding a sliding glass door slightly ajar, defendant entered the cottage. As it was dusk, defendant lit a candle and examined the interior of the cottage. He then blew out the candle and left. According to defendant, he stopped at the cottage between 6:00 and 6:30 p.m. and arrived at the Lewi-ston laundromat at 6:50 p.m. Two witnesses testified to having seen defendant at the laundromat at around 7:10 p.m. on the day of the fire.

Defendant testified that he had been at the cottage earlier on that same day and discovered a break-in. According to defendant the perpetrator of this earlier break had removed one of the cottages sliding glass doors from its track. This was consistent, defendant testified, with a number of prior break-ins at the cottage that had occurred between January and March of 1984 in which the perpetrator had gained entry by removing the sliding glass doors. Although defendant did not report these break-ins to the police until after the fire, both the owner of a neighboring cottage and defendant’s son corroborated their existence, each having testified that on at least one occasion he discovered the cottage broken into via removal of the sliding glass doors.

The witness who discovered the fire testified to observing a glow inside the cottage. Only later, after hearing an explosion, did he see flames protruding from the building. Barry Norris, an investigator from the State Fire Marshall’s office, attributed the explosion to a build up of hot air in the cottage, an indication that the cottage was relatively airtight at the time of the fire. Norris also testified that melting about the door frames signified that the sliding glass doors had been in place during the fire. In addition, Norris related that on one occasion defendant had accompanied him to the fire scene and had several times volunteered the hypothesis that someone broke into the cottage and started the fire. Finally, Norris testified that in investigating suspicious fires, he had encountered various devices, including a candle, used by arsonists to delay ignition of a fire.

At the time of the fire, defendant’s cottage lacked electricity, heat, and sewerage disposal. Local zoning laws precluded renovation of the cottage, and the Town of Greene had enforced those laws by stopping renovations of the cottage and forcing defendant to remove a chimney he had installed. In addition, although it had initially granted permission, the town denied defendant’s request to install a holding tank system for sewerage disposal. Finally, the cottage had slid off its concrete supports and, when the fire occurred, rested on makeshift posts constructed out of split wood. The State’s expert valued the cottage at $5,900 while the defendant’s expert determined the value to be $11,500.

Defendant’s proposed sewerage disposal system also required certification by the State Department of Human Services, Division of Health Engineering. By a 1982 letter, the department finally denied defendant’s request for certification. Nevertheless, investigator Norris testified that shortly after the fire, defendant told him that he had State approval for a sewerage system. Norris also stated that defendant denied having problems with the cottage. As to his future plans concerning the cot *1323 tage, defendant testified that he hoped to utilize the cottage as a summer home, spending winters in Florida. Defendant admitted, however, that one evening after a heated meeting with town officials, he expressed a wish that the cottage would burn.

In July, 1983, defendant changed the agency and the company providing insurance on the cottage, as well as on his other insurable property. The new policy insured the cottage in the amount of $25,000. Defendant testified that he changed insurance because of dissatisfaction with the processing of prior claims. Responses on the insurance application, however, identified lower premiums as the reason for the change and denied the existence of prior claims to other insurance companies. The application also misrepresented the number of rooms in the cottage and the existence of a heating system. While processing the application, the insurance company requested a photograph of the cottage, but the photo it received actually depicted defendant’s year-round residence in Leeds. Finally, the underwriter who approved the policy testified that she would not have done so had she known the true condition of the cottage.

The record contains conflicting evidence as to whether defendant, his local insurance agent, or agency personnel were responsible for the wrong photo being sent to the insurance company and for the inaccuracies in the insurance application. The application, however, bears defendant’s signature, and the State introduced an out of court statement by defendant that he had personally completed the application. After the fire, defendant filed a proof of loss in the amount of $17,500.

After a four day trial, the jury returned a guilty verdict. From a judgment of conviction entered thereon defendant appeals, claiming numerous errors.

II.

At the outset, defendant challenges the sufficiency of the evidence to support the jury’s verdict. Whether direct or circumstantial, evidence is sufficient to support a guilty verdict if a jury, viewing that evidence in a light most favorable to the prosecution, rationally could have found all elements of the crime to be proven beyond a reasonable doubt. State v. Hardy, 489 A.2d 508, 510 (Me.1985).

Despite conflicting testimony, the jury could have concluded that defendant deliberately set out to insure uninsurable property in an amount greatly exceeding its value based on 1) the insurance application containing material misrepresentations and bearing defendant’s signature, 2) the incorrect photo having been sent to the insurance company, and 3) the appraisal testimony. The evidence also revealed that local zoning ordinances barred the improvement of the property necessary to make it habitable and marketable. The defendant himself admitted that at one point he expressed a wish that the place would burn. On this evidence, a jury could have rationally found both a plan and a motive for arson with intent to collect insurance proceeds.

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Bluebook (online)
505 A.2d 1321, 1986 Me. LEXIS 658, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-dionne-me-1986.