An Act To Amend Certain Aspects of Post-conviction Review Procedure
Maine Legislature, Session 121, LD 0340
Committee: Judiciary
Amends: 15 MRSA §2121, 15 MRSA §2129

FIRST REG·ULAR SESSION-2003 
Legislative Document 
No. 340 
H.P.269 
House of Representatives, January 28, 2003 
An Act To Amend Certain Aspects of Post-conviction Review 
Procedure 
Reported by Representative NORBERT of Portland for the Criminal Law Advisory 
Commission pursuant to the Maine Revised Statutes, Title 17-A, section 1354, subsection 2. 
Reference to the Committee on Judiciary suggested and ordered printed under Joint Rule 
218. 
Printed l)fi recyc led paper 
'77/~ frI· 7l}u~ 
MILLICENT M. MacFARLAND 
Clerk 
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows: 
Sec. 1. 15 MRSA §2121, sub-§I-A, as enacted by PL 1985, 
c, 
209, §l, is amended to read: 
I-A. 
Assigned justice. "Assigned justice" means the Justice 
or Active Retired Justice of the Supreme Judicial Court 9r L 
the 
Justice or Active Retired Justice of the Superior Court or the 
judge authorized to sit in the Superior Court on post-conviction 
review 
cases 
who 
is 
assigned 
the 
post-conviction 
review 
proceeding when a special assignment has been made. It means any 
JQS~iee-9~-Ae~ive-Re~iFea-JQs~iee justice, active retired justice 
or authorized judge attending to the regular criminal calendar 
when the post-conviction review proceeding is assigned to the 
regular criminal calendar. 
Sec. 2. 15 MRS A §2123, sub-§I-A, as enacted by PL 1985, c. 
209, §2, is amended to read: 
I-A. 
Supreme 
Court Justice or authorized Judge of the 
District Court. 
A single Justice of the Supreme Judicial Court 
9FL 
an Active Retired Justice of the Supreme Judicial Court shall 
have or 
a 
judge authorized to sit in the Superior Court on 
post-conviction review cases and shall exercise jurisdictionT and 
have 
has 
and shall exercise all of 
the 
powers, 
duties 
and 
authority necessary for exercising the same jurisdiction as the 
Superior Court relative to a post-conviction review proceeding. 
Sec. 3. 15 MRSA §2129, sub-§I, 1[C, as amended by PL 1985, c. 
556, §3, is further amended to read: 
C. 
Once 
the petition has 
been filed, 
the 
clerk shall 
forward a copy of the petition and any separate documents 
filed with it to the Chief Justice of the Superior Court and 
to the 
A~t;e;;Rey---GeaeFa± prosecutorial office that earlier 
represented the State in the underlying criminal or juvenile 
proceeding. 
Sec. 4. 15 MRSA §2129, sub-§2, as repealed and replaced by PL 
1985, c. 209, §4, is repealed. 
Sec. 5. 15 MRSA §2129, sub-§5. as repealed and replaced by PL 
1981, c. 238, §5, is amended to read: 
5. 
Procedure in proceedings pursuant to this chapter. In 
all respects not covered by statute, the procedure in proceedings 
under this chapter shall--be is as the Supreme Judicial Court 
shall-bY-FQle-pF9viae provides by rule. 
Page l-LR08l5( 1) 
SUMMARY 
This bill: 
1. 
Broadens the definition of "assigned justice" in the 
Maine Revised Statutes, section 2121, subsection I-A 
to include 
a judge of the District Court who has been given authorization to 
sit in the Superior Court on post-conviction review cases; 
2. 
Amends section 2123, subsection I-A to allow a judge of 
the District Court who has been given authorization to sit in the 
Super ior Court on post-conviction review cases to exercise the 
same 
jurisdiction as 
the 
Superior 
Court Justice 
relative 
to 
post-conviction review proceedings; 
3. 
Corrects a current inconsistency between section 2129, 
subsection 3 and section 2129, subsection 1. paragraph C created 
by the 1991 amendment to subsection 3, Public Law 1991. chapter 
622, 
Part 
D. 
Specifically, 
it 
replaces 
the 
reference 
in 
paragraph 
C to the Attorney General with a 
reference to the 
prosecutorial office that earlier represented the State in the 
underlying 
criminal 
or 
juvenile 
proceeding. 
Subsection 
provides that representation of the respondent can be either the 
office of the Attorney General 
or 
the office of 
a 
district 
attorney; 
4. 
Repeals section 2129, 
C'ubsection 2 that requires that 
the procedure for the assignment of a post-conviction review case 
be addressed pursuant to an administrative order by the Chief 
Justice of the Supreme Judicial Court. 
With its repeal, 
the 
assignment of petitions 
for 
post-conviction review 
becomes 
a 
matter to be addressed by the Supreme ,Judicial Court by rule as 
provided for in section 2129, subsection 5; and 
5. 
Makes 
technical 
drafting 
changes 
to 
section 
2129, 
subsection 5.