Maine

Did robbery defendant forfeit right to an attorney? Top state court to decide

Joshua Nisbet didn’t want to represent himself in a Maine robbery trial. But a state court judge said he had to do so because he couldn’t get along with the five attorneys previously appointed at various times to represent him in the Cumberland County case and he last two said…

Sep 17, 2015 5:50 AM CDT

Court: Governor was wrong about veto opportunity; 65 bills are now law

Maine Gov. Paul LePage will implement 65 laws he intended to block after the state’s top court ruled against his veto views in an advisory opinion, according to a spokeswoman. The Republican governor believed a 10-day limit to sign or veto bills didn’t apply during a period this summer, between…

Aug 7, 2015 8:15 AM CDT

Did Maine governor flub pocket veto? Misstep will allow 19 bills to become law, Democrats say

Nineteen bills may become law in Maine despite opposition by Republican Gov. Paul LePage because he botched an attempt at a pocket veto, according to some Democrats and the American Civil Liberties Union of Maine. Among the bills that may become law is legislation that allows asylum seekers to receive…

Jul 9, 2015 11:38 AM CDT

Federal Circuit: US must pay attorney’s fee to lawyer who took veteran’s case 20 years ago

Nearly 20 years after he agreed to represent a U.S. military veteran in a disability case, a Maine lawyer has gotten a definitive answer about his 20-percent contingent attorney fee. The U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit on Tuesday ruled that the feds owe attorney Francis Jackson…

Jun 3, 2015 4:25 PM CDT

Woman sues over barbecue brush, seeks unspecified damages for surgery costs

A free barbecue brush that came with a new grill was no bargain, a Maine woman contends. In a January lawsuit filed in Maine state court that has since been removed to federal court there, Deborah Lamont says the high-carbon steel brush was unreasonably dangerous. Her Aroostook County Superior Court…

Feb 24, 2015 4:30 PM CST

Judge puts gag order on news media in lawyer’s assault trial, then apologizes and rescinds

A county court judge in Maine, hearing a domestic assault case against a prominent local lawyer, at the outset of the trial Monday ordered reporters not to publish any of the courtroom testimony. By Wednesday, he reconvened the case, post-sentencing, to apologize for the gag order and rescind it, the…

Jan 7, 2015 5:35 PM CST

Former top drug prosecutor is sentenced for child porn, fleeing

A former top drug prosecutor in Maine was sentenced on Wednesday to nearly 16 years in prison for possessing child pornography and fleeing the state after an adverse appellate ruling in his case. James Cameron, 52, was sentenced after apologizing for his conduct, report the Associated Press, CentralMaine.com and the…

Dec 18, 2014 12:02 PM CST

Verrill Dana to hire 20 lawyers from Connecticut firm, will tie Pierce Atwood as biggest Maine firm

Although technically not a merger, an agreement by Verrill Dana to acquire the employees of a Connecticut-based law firm effectively is one, says managing partner K.C. Jones. And when the 20 lawyers from Levett Rockwood come on board around the beginning of the year, the combined roster of approximately 140…

Dec 2, 2014 3:00 PM CST

Maine judge rules that nurse with no Ebola symptoms is free to move about

A Maine judge has rebuffed state health officials and ruled that nurse Kaci Hickox shows no symptoms of Ebola and thus can move about freely in public. Fort Kent Circuit Court Judge Charles C. LaVerdiere had issued a temporary order (PDF) yesterday for Hickox to avoid public places and stay…

Oct 31, 2014 3:00 PM CDT

Maine nurse won’t follow quarantine, lawyer says, setting off possible legal battle

Maine nurse Kaci Hickox doesn’t have Ebola and she won’t follow a quarantine imposed by her home state, one of her lawyers said Tuesday night. Lawyer Steven Hyman told ABC News his client will monitor herself for a fever, but she doesn’t pose a risk and won’t follow the quarantine.…

Oct 29, 2014 7:06 AM CDT

Attorney is charged in child-porn possession case after consenting to search of law office

A Maine attorney is facing a felony child-pornography possession charge after state police allegedly found sexual images of children under the age of 12 on a laptop and an external hard drive at his Portland law office. Authorities traced images on the Internet to an IP address for a computer…

Aug 28, 2014 2:25 PM CDT

‘Best mug shot ever’: Man poses in T-shirt displaying booking photo as he begins DUI jail sentence

Busted in June for drunken driving and driving without a license, a Maine teenager was ready to make a fashion statement by the time he began a two-day jail sentence in August in his driving-under-the-influence case. For the new booking photo, Robert Burt, 19, was wearing an orange T-shirt featuring…

Aug 20, 2014 10:45 AM CDT

Brain injury leads to suspension for Maine lawyer; ‘I couldn’t stick to tasks,’ he says

A Maine lawyer says he can no longer function effectively as a trial lawyer and he agrees with his indefinite suspension, imposed by a Maine Supreme Judicial Court justice on May 27. Newport lawyer Dale Thistle, 66, attributes his problems to a traumatic brain injury caused by a November 2011…

Jun 25, 2014 10:45 AM CDT

Domestic violence victim put on stand in pajamas, then jailed overnight for refusing to testify

A 52-year-old woman who had not responded to a witness subpoena in a domestic violence case was picked up at the order of a Maine trial judge and put on the stand last week in fleece pajamas, the clothing she was wearing when police took her into custody. When Sheila…

Jun 3, 2014 9:15 PM CDT

Boycott seeking $70 per hour for court-appointed lawyers fizzled when other attorneys took the cases

Several defense attorneys in Maine were hoping a boycott of all sexual assault cases would persuade the state to raise its hourly rate for court-appointed lawyers in all criminal cases from $50 to $70. But the attorney organized-labor movement fizzled out when the state was able to find defense lawyers…

May 29, 2014 9:15 PM CDT