State v. Jacob L.

2017 ME 112, 163 A.3d 827
CourtSupreme Judicial Court of Maine
DecidedJune 6, 2017
DocketDocket: Pen-16-395
StatusPublished

This text of 2017 ME 112 (State v. Jacob L.) 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. Jacob L., 2017 ME 112, 163 A.3d 827 (Me. 2017).

Opinion

HJELM, J.

[¶ 1] Jacob L. appeals from an order denying his motion for return of property, see M.R.U. Crim. P. 41(j),1 entered after a hearing in the Juvenile Court2 (Bangor, Lucy, J.), following entry of a judgment [829]*829adjudicating him of the juvenile crime of aggravated assault (Class B), 17-A M.R.S. § 208(1)(B) (2016); see also 15 M.R.S. § 3103(1) (2016) (defining “juvenile crime”). Jacob argues that the court applied an incorrect legal standard when it determined that the State was entitled to retain possession of cash that had been seized from him as evidence against a co-defendant, and that the court’s findings were not supported by sufficient evidence. Because the court has not yet issued an order determining who owns or is otherwise entitled to possession of the cash, we dismiss this appeal as interlocutory.

I. BACKGROUND

[¶2] The central facts are undisputed, either as established in the record or as the parties have framed their arguments.

[¶3] In the early morning hours of March 25, 2016, a Bangor police officer responded to the scene of a reported robbery and assault. The victim told the officer that two males had beaten him with a two-by-four and had taken about $800 in cash from his pocket, along with some other items.

[¶ 4] Based on physical descriptions provided by the victim and his girlfriend, other officers detained two suspects, including Jacob, at a nearby convenience store. The girlfriend identified the suspects as the attackers, and the officers then arrested Jacob on several outstanding warrants. They also arrested the other suspect. One of the arresting officers searched Jacob for weapons and found a large roll of money in his pocket. At the police station the officer counted the money and found that there was $1,310, which was retained as evidence. The victim later told the police that the amount of stolen cash totaled $1,300 rather than the $800 he had reported initially.

[¶ 5] On March 31, 2016, Jacob was charged by petition with the juvenile crimes of robbery (Class A), 17-A M.R.S. § 651(1)(D) (2016); aggravated assault (Class B), 17-A M.R.S. § 208(1)(B); and theft by unauthorized taking or transfer (Class D), 17-A M.R.S. § 353(1)(B)(5) (2016). At a hearing on April 26, Jacob entered an admission to the juvenile crime of aggravated assault, and the State dismissed the remaining charges. The court committed Jacob to a juvenile detention facility for an indeterminate period to age twenty. See 15 M.R.S. §§ 3310(5), 3314(1)(F) (2016).

[¶ 6] Pursuant to M.R.U. Crim. P. 41(j),3 Jacob filed a post-judgment motion for return of property—namely, the cash seized from him when he was arrested— asserting that the State’s continued retention of the cash was illegal. The State opposed the motion, and a hearing was held on August 2, 2016. The evidence presented at the hearing consisted only of the police reports that had been filed in support of the juvenile petition.

[¶ 7] At the conclusion of the hearing, the court denied Jacob’s motion. The court found that the State was entitled to retain the cash because there was “probable cause to believe that [Jacob and his co-defendant] beat up [the victim] and took his money[,] [a]nd that the money that the [830]*830State [was] holding represented] some or all of what was taken from [the victim] after [Jacob] hit him with a two-by-four.” The court further explained that charges were still pending against Jacob’s co-defendant and that evidence in his trial would “further inform this issue.”

[¶ 8] After the court announced its decision, Jacob asked whether he would be permitted to file a renewed motion for return of property after the case against the co-defendant was concluded. The court responded that it would not give an advisory opinion about “whatever may or may not happen in the future,” and restated its determination that the State was entitled to retain the cash. The court further stated, “There may be other recourse through civil process ..., but ... as it stands now there’s nothing else for me to do on this case.”

[¶ 9] Jacob timely appealed. At oral argument, both parties told us that after the court issued its order denying Jacob’s motion, the case against the co-defendant was fully resolved and is no longer pending. The State also acknowledged that given this development, the cash seized from Jacob has no remaining evidentiary value.

II. DISCUSSION

[¶ 10] We must address, as a threshold issue, whether we have jurisdiction to consider an appeal from an order denying a motion for return of property in a juvenile crime proceeding. See M.R. App. P. 4(d) (“Whenever it appears by suggestion of the parties or otherwise that ■ the Law Court lacks jurisdiction of the subject matter* the Law Court shall dismiss the appeal.”).

[¶ 11] As the parties acknowledge, the types of orders that a juvenile may appeal are statutorily enumerated as orders of adjudication, disposition, and detention. See 15 M.R.S. § 3402(1) (2016). The order denying Jacob’s Rule 41(j) motion is none of these.4 See 15 M.R.S. § 3003(1), (4-B), (5) (2016) (defining “[adjudicatory hearing,” “[d]ispositional hearing,” and “[detention”). If we have appellate jurisdiction over this matter, it must therefore arise from a different source.

[¶ 12] Adult criminal defendants are entitled to appeal from an adverse ruling on a Rule 41(j) motion. See State v. Miller, 645 A.2d 1140, 1141 (Me. 1994);5 see also 15 M.R.S. § 2111(1) (2016) (“[I]n any criminal proceeding in the District Court, a defendant aggrieved by a judgment of conviction, ruling or order may appeal to the Supreme Judicial Court sitting as the Law Court.”). We recognize that a juvenile adjudicated to have committed a juvenile crime is not viewed as “a defendant aggrieved by a judgment of conviction,” 15 M.R.S. § 2111(1); see also 15 M.R.S. § 3310(6) (2016) (“An adjudication of the commission of a juvenile crime shall [831]*831not be deemed a conviction of a crime.”). Nonetheless, the Juvenile Code expressly states that one of the “goals of the juvenile appellate structure” is to assure “substantial uniformity of treatment to persons in like situations,” 15 M.R.S. § 3401(2)(B) (2016), and that the Code’s provisions “shall be liberally construed,” 15 -M.R.S. § 3002(2) (2016)., Indeed, the Juvenile Code and .the. Maine Rules of Unified Criminal Procedure themselves make the Rules applicable to juvenile proceedings. See supra n.l. This enables juveniles to seek the return of property pursuant to Rule 41(j), just as adult criminal defendants are entitled to do. We therefore conclude that section 2111(1) supports the existence of appellate jurisdiction from a ruling on a Rule 41(j) motion in this juvenile ease to the same extent that adult defendants are entitled to seek appellate relief.

[¶ 13] Although we conclude that Jacob has a right to appeal, we do not reach his substantive challenges to the court’s denial of his Rule 41(j) motion because the order is not a final judgment. See Bank of N.Y. v. Richardson, 2011 ME 38, ¶ 7, 15 A.3d 756 (“Whether or not a party has argued the issue, we consider sua sponte whether a matter is properly before us on appeal from a final judgment.”).

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
2017 ME 112, 163 A.3d 827, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-jacob-l-me-2017.