Latest Case: State v. Lindell (Criminal Law)

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State v. Lindell

Citation: 2020 ME 49

Opinion Date: April 16, 2020

Judge: Joseph Jabar

Areas of Law: Criminal Law

The Supreme Judicial Court affirmed Defendant's convictions of theft by unauthorized taking, theft by deception, securities violations, tax evasion, and failure to pay state income tax, holding that the trial court did not commit prejudicial error or abuse its discretion. Specifically, the Supreme Judicial Court held (1) the court did not abuse its discretion by admitting into evidence employee procedure manuals or certain checks with their memo lines unredacted without a limiting instruction; (2) the court did not err by declining to instruct the jury on the definition of the word “conduct,” by declining to instruct the jury on methods for calculating income taxes, and by failing to provide the jury with relevant statutes; and (3) the court did not err in concluding that Defendant's conduct satisfied the territorial applicability requirement of Maine law.