Latest 2 Cases: Watson v. State (Criminal Law), Bridges v. Caouette (Family Law)

Believe All Women or Support Joe Biden?

SHERRY F. COLB

Cornell Law professor Sherry F. Colb comments on recent sexual assault allegations against presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden. Colb argues that if the only choices for President are Donald Trump and Joe Biden, the sexual assault allegation against the latter will take second fiddle to the need to defeat the former and defends this perspective as not manifesting hypocrisy or indifference to sexual assault or other intimate violence.

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Watson v. State

Citation: 2020 ME 51

Opinion Date: April 21, 2020

Judge: Joseph Jabar

Areas of Law: Criminal Law

The Supreme Judicial Court vacated the judgment of the unified criminal docket denying Appellant's petition for post-conviction review, holding that Appellant was deprived of the effective assistance of counsel when his trial attorney played a video of the ten-year-old victim's interview with police and that Appellant was adversely affected. Appellant was convicted of two counts of gross sexual assault, one count of unlawful sexual contact, and one count of visual sexual aggression against a child. The Supreme Court affirmed. Appellant later filed a petition for post-conviction review claiming that his trial attorney's representation was deficient because introducing the videotaped recording of the victim's entire interview with law enforcement was unnecessary to provide evidence supporting the victim's potential motive to fabricate the allegations. The post-conviction court denied denied the petition. The Supreme Court vacated the judgment below, holding that trial counsel's conduct was deficient and that counsel's actions rose to the level of comprising the reliability of Appellant's conviction and undermining confidence in it.

Bridges v. Caouette

Citation: 2020 ME 50

Opinion Date: April 21, 2020

Judge: Andrew M. Mead

Areas of Law: Family Law

The Supreme Judicial Court affirmed the judgment of the district court granting Marla Bridges's motion to correct a clerical error in the parties' divorce judgment and denying Christopher Caouette's motion to terminate spousal support, holding that the district court did not err. On appeal, Caouette argued that the district court abused its discretion by concluding that the inclusion of the phrase "or remarries" in a provision of the divorce judgment was a clerical error and by denying his motion to terminate spousal support based substantively on Bridges's remarriage. The Supreme Judicial Court affirmed, holding (1) although the court erred in identifying its decision as a clerical correct, it was clear that the court was interpreting the original divorce judgment and in so doing was acting to grant Bridges's motion to enforce; and (2) the court did not abuse its discretion in denying Caouette's motion to terminate spousal support due to Bridges's remarriage based on its findings regarding the financial situations of both parties.