State v. Martel
State v. Martel
Opinion of the Court
Patrick Martel’s sole challenge on appeal from a judgment entered on a jury verdict in the Superior Court (York County, Lipez, J.) finding him guilty of operating a motor vehicle while a habitual offender, 29 M.R.S.A. § 2298 (Pamph. 1988), is to the sufficiency of the evidence establishing his identity. Because we find that the State failed to establish that Martel’s name and date of birth were the same as that of the habitual offender whose privilege to operate a vehicle had been revoked, we vacate the judgment.
On March 8, 1988, an indictment was returned against Martel charging him with a violation of section 2298. At trial, a Sanford patrolman testified that he stopped Martel’s pickup truck on December 17, 1987 after it made an unsafe turn causing another vehicle to brake. The officer saw four people in the truck’s cab who appeared to be exchanging positions upon noticing the patrol car. The officer testified that he recognized Patrick Martel from a 1986 court appearance as one of the truck’s occupants. He also stated that he and Martel had had no contact between 1986 and this incident. Testifying that he called the defendant “Patrick,” the officer stated that the defendant had volunteered that he was not driving.
To establish beyond a reasonable doubt that Martel was a habitual offender under section 2298, the State must prove that Martel operated a motor vehicle, on a public way at a time when his license to operate a motor vehicle had been revoked. 29 M.R.S.A. § 2298. This requires proof that the defendant was subject to a “then effective order” under the Habitual Offender statute. State v. Vosmus, 431 A.2d 621, 623 (Me. 1981). The official Certificate of the Secretary of State notifying an individual that his operator’s license has been revoked contains only the individual’s name and date of birth.
Although it is true that the State may establish the identity of the accused through purely circumstantial evidence, State v. Guptill, 481 A.2d 772, 775 (Me. 1984), the evidence in this case fails to prove Martel’s identity beyond a reasonable doubt. In State v. Mottram, 155 Me. 394, 156 A.2d 383 (1959), we determined that identity of name would not be sufficient to uphold a criminal conviction, “[t]here must not only be proof of identity of name but of person.” Mottram, 155 Me. at 405, 156 A.2d at 389. In such cases, “identity of name is not sufficient to establish the identity of accused with that of the one previously convicted; it must be supplemented by other proof.” Id. at 406, 156 A.2d at 390 (quoting 24 C.J.S., Criminal Law § 1968 at 1165).
In the instant case, the State produced evidence as to some suspicious circumstances regarding the status of Martel's operator’s license at the time of the stop. The State, however, neither established that Patrick Martel was the Patrick R. Martel named in the Secretary of State’s certificate nor that Patrick Martel was born on April 30, 1960. Although jury members may rely on their own observations of the defendant in the courtroom to infer from his appearance facts relating to his age, State v. Lyons, 466 A.2d 868, 871 n. 2 (Me. 1983), no jury could observe the Patrick Martel before the court and infer that he was born on April 30, 1960. Accordingly, we conclude that based on the evidence in this case no jury could have rationally found that the offense charged was proven beyond a reasonable doubt.
The entry is:
Judgment vacated. Remanded to the Superior Court for entry of judgment of acquittal of Patrick Martel.
ROBERTS, WATHEN and CLIFFORD, JJ., concur.
. Another witness testified that Gary Fortier, one of Martel’s companions in the pickup truck, told her he was not driving but that he was going to say he was because he was the only person in the vehicle with a valid license. On the witness stand, Fortier denied having this conversation and testified that he was driving the pickup truck at the time of the offense.
. 29 M.R.S.A. § 2298(3) provides:
3. Presumption of Identity. If the name and date of birth of the person being prosecuted under this section are the same as the habitual offender whose privilege to operate has been revoked, then there shall be a presumption that that person is the same person whose license was revoked under this chapter.
Dissenting Opinion
with whom McKUSICK, C.J., and HORNBY, J., join, dissenting.
After a jury trial, the Superior Court (York County, Lipez, J.), convicted Patrick Martel as an habitual offender under 29 M.R.S.A. § 2298 (Pamph. 1988). Today, this Court vacates the conviction on the ground that insufficient evidence was submitted for the jury to find Martel guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. I cannot agree that the evidence was insufficient to support the jury verdict, and I respectfully dissent.
It is well established that we can set aside a conviction only if no trier of fact rationally could have found the elements of the crime beyond a reasonable doubt. State v. Barry, 495 A.2d 825, 826 (Me. 1985); State v. Brewer, 505 A.2d 774, 775
The evidence submitted to the jury linking Martel to the certificate included the police officer’s statements that at the scene of the arrest the officer recognized Martel, called the defendant by his first name, and knew that Martel’s driver’s license had been suspended in the past. Further evidence demonstrated that Martel was the owner of the motor vehicle that was stopped, and that the arresting officer saw the people in the front seat of the stopped vehicle changing places when the officer pulled the vehicle over. This evidence demonstrates that Martel had reason to desire not to be identified as the driver of the motor vehicle, even though the vehicle belonged to him. Upon exiting the vehicle, Martel told the officer in an unsolicited remark that he was not driving. “The [defendant] doth protest too much, methinks.”
At trial, after the Superior Court gave the jury proper- instructions regarding the State’s burden of proof, all of this evidence was submitted to the jury. Because the jury could rationally determine from this evidence all elements of the crime beyond a reasonable doubt, the conviction should not be vacated by this Court. Brewer, 505 A.2d at 775.
. W. Shakespeare, Hamlet, III, ii, 242.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- STATE of Maine v. Patrick MARTEL
- Status
- Published