LD 444: Returning the common law to the peopleLD 444: Returning the common law to the people

By Richard L. Rhoda, Esq.
    A bill scheduled for hearing before the Committee on Judiciary on March 24th at 9 a.m. at Room 438 in the Statehouse, Augusta, should be of great interest to all Maine citizens interested in returning a degree of common sense to our court system.     LD 444, An Act to Allow a Verdict in a Criminal Trial to be Considered a De Minimis Infraction will allow the jury the legal right to use its common sense in reaching a verdict on misdemeanor violations of law.
    An underlying purpose for a government following the rule of law is adherence to a standard or boundary of rights which enable us to render to each man or woman his or her just due, without distinction.
    For some 33 years, Title 17-A M.R.S.A. Sec. 12 has allowed a judge to dismiss a criminal prosecution if the defendant’s conduct alleged and the nature of the attendant     circumstances:
• Was within a customary license or tolerance, which was not expressly refused by the person whose interest was infringed and which is not inconsistent with the purpose of the law defining the crime; or
• Did not actually cause or threaten the harm sought to be prevented by the law defining the crime or did so only to an extent too trivial to warrant the condemnation of conviction; or
• Presents such other extenuations that it cannot reasonably be regarded as envisaged by the Legislature in defining the crime.
    LD 444 would simply allow a jury of one’s peers to consider these in reaching a verdict in a Class D or Class E crime. The maximum penalties allowed for these classes of crimes are a jail sentence of 364 days and/or a fine up to $2,000. These are generally considered the minor criminal charges necessary to maintain good government of our society.
    Our Anglo-Saxon system of justice developed from the belief that its people could apply their collective wisdom to secure justice to the affairs of their daily existence. This common sense of the people evolved into what we today look back on as the common law.
    The more serious crime of olden days were crimes against The King. Today they find their being in Class A, B and C felonies which carry punishment ranging from incarceration up to life imprisonment and/or fines up to $50,000.
    Such crimes go to the very basis of our need for the rule of law to govern our society. LD 444 would not allow a De Minimus acquittal finding by a jury of felony charges. It could still find a person not guilty beyond a reasonable doubt and set him free.
    In 1975 our legislature was in the vanguard in our country in recognizing that not every technical violation of the criminal need result in the finding of guilt on a person’s record.
    Prior to this such discretion vested in the province of the district attorney who would use his fair judgment to decide if a charge should be lodged against a person. The legislature found it preferable that this authority be shared by both the executive and judicial branches of government. Common sense was not found to only preside with the executive branch of government.
    LD 444 today only seeks to return to the people, from whence it originally came, that common sense which we, the people, collectively share as a result of our collective experiences in life.
    Who better than a jury of one’s peers to decide if a person’s conduct was “within a customary license and tolerance”; “did not actually cause or threaten the harm sought to be prevented … or did so only to an extent too trivial to warrant the condemnation of conviction”; ….
    First the Judiciary Committee on March 24th and then all legislatures should each be advised of how the citizens feel about LD 444. Think about it, become involved and express your opinion to guide your legislator in his vote on this bill.
    Richard L. Rhoda, a life-long resident of Houlton, is a graduate of University School of Law and the National College of District Attorneys in 1976 with four years as an assistant district attorney. He has offered a private law practice since 1978 including criminal jury trials.