An Act To Modify Certain Criminal Appeal Statutes in View of the New Maine Rules of Appellate Procedure
Maine Legislature, Session 121, LD 0273
Committee: Judiciary
Amends: 15 MRSA §210-A, 15 MRSA §2115-B, 15 MRSA §2131, 17-A MRSA §1207

Legislative Document 
No. 273 
H.P.216 
House of Representatives, January 28,2003 
An Act To Modify Certain Criminal Appeal Statutes in View of the 
New Maine Rules of Appellate Procedure 
Reported by Representative NORBERT of Portland for the Criminal Law Advisory 
Commission pursuant to the Maine Revised Statutes, Title 17-A, section l354, subsection 2. 
Reference to the Committee on Judiciary suggested and ordered printed under Joint Rule 
218. 
Printed on recycled paper 
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MILLICENT M. MacFARLAND 
Clerk 
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows: 
Sec. 1. 15 MRSA §210-A, as amended by PL 1997, c. 181, §2, is 
further amended to read: 
§210-A. 
Procedure at hearing 
At the hearing on the petition contesting extradition, if 
the Governor's warrant and the demand comply with the provisions 
of this chapter, the petitioner has the burden of proving by 
clear and convincing evidence that the petitioner has not been 
charged with 
a 
crime 
in 
the 
demanding 
state 
and 
that 
the 
petitioner is not a fugitive from justice. 
If the name of the 
petitioner is the 
same 
as that of the person named in the 
Governor's warrant, the petitioner has the burden of proving, by 
clear and convincing evidence, that the petitioner is not the 
person whom the demanding state is seeking to extradite. 
If the 
names are not identical, the 
!'espeRaeR~ ~ 
has the burden of 
proving by a preponderance of the evidence that the petitioner is 
the person sought to be extradited by the demanding state. 
The 
following are conclusive on the issue of probable cause: 
1. 
Indictment. An indictment or an information issued upon 
a waiver of indictment; or 
2. 
Judicial determination of probable cause. An information 
or other formal charging instrument or an arrest warrant issued 
on a determination of probable cause by a judicial officer in the 
demanding state. 
Affidavits, including any affidavits supplied pursuant to 
the provisions of section 203 or in support of an application for 
requisi tion, and any other hearsay evidence that may be deemed 
reliable by the court, 
are admissible at the hearing on the 
petition contesting extradition, for the purpose of showing that 
the petitioner is charged with a crime in the demanding state, 
that there is probable cause, that the petitioner is in fact the 
person charged with the crime 
and that the petitioner is 
a 
fugitive from justice. 
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Sec. 2. 15 MRS A §210-B is enacted to read: 
§210-B. Review of final judgment by Law Court 
The 
order 
making 
final 
disposition 
of 
the 
petition 
contesting extradition constitutes 
a 
final 
judgment 
for 
the 
purpose of review. 
A final judgment entered under this section 
may be reviewed by the Supreme Judicial Court sitting as the Law 
Court. 
An appeal must be taken within 7 days after entry of the 
order that is being appealed. 
1. 
Appeal by petitioner. 
A peti tioner aggrieved by the 
order may not appeal as of right. 
The manner and any conditions 
for the taking of an appeal are as the Supreme Judicial Court 
provides by rule. 
2. 
Appeal by State. 
The State aggrieved by the order may 
appeal as of right and no certificate of approval by the Attorney 
General is required. 
The manner 
and any conditions for the 
taking of an appeal are as the Supreme Judicial Court provides by 
rule. 
Sec. 3. 15 MRSA §2115-B, as corrected by RR 1999, c. 2, §16 
and affected by §17, is amended to read: 
§2115-B. 
Appeal by aggrieved contemnor 
1. 
Summary 
contempt 
proceedings 
involving 
punitive 
sanctions. 
In a summary contempt proceeding inVOlving punitive 
sanctions, accompanied or unaccompanied by remedial sanctions, 
instituted under either the Maine Rules of Criminal Procedure, 
Rule 42 or the Maine Rules of Civil Procedure, Rule 66, before a 
Judge of the District Court or Probate Court or a Justice of the 
Superior Court or the Supreme Judicial Court, a contemnor who is 
aggrieved by an order and imposition of a punitive sanction may 
appeal to the Supreme Judicial Court sitting as the Law Court, as 
provided under section 2111 or 2115 and the applicable Maine 
Rules of bFimiaal Appellate Procedure. 
2. 
Plenary 
contempt 
proceedings 
involving 
punitive 
sanctions. 
In a plenary contempt proceeding involving punitive 
sanctions, accompanied or unaccompanied by remedial sanctions, 
instituted under either the Maine Rules of Criminal Procedure, 
Rule 42 or the Maine Rules of Civil Procedure, 
Rule 
66, 
any 
contemnor 
aggrieved 
by 
an 
adjudication 
and 
imposition of 
a 
punitive 
sanction 
may 
appeal 
to 
the 
Supreme 
Judicial 
Court 
sitting as the Law Court, as provided under section 2111 or 2115 
and the applicable Maine Rules of bFimiHal Appellate Procedure. 
Sec. 4. 15 MRSA §2131, as amended by PL 1981, c. 238, §§7 and 
8, is repealed and the following enacted in its place: 
§2131. 
Review of final judgment 
A final judgment entered under section 2130 may be reviewed 
by the Supreme Judicial Court sitting as the Law Court. 
1. 
Appeal by petitioner. 
A petitioner aggrieved by the 
final judgment may not appeal as of right. 
The time for taking 
the appeal and the manner and any conditions for the taking of 
the appeal are as the Supreme Judicial Court provides by rule. 
2. 
Appeal by State. 
The State aggrieved by the final 
judgment may appeal as of right and no certificate of approval by 
the Attorney General is required. 
The time for taking the appeal 
and the manner and any conditions for the taking of an appeal are 
as the Supreme Judicial Court provides by rule. 
Sec. 5. 17-A MRSA §1207, sub-§2, as enacted by PL 1997, c. 
273, §3, is amended to read: 
2. 
Superior Court proceeding. 
In a probation revocation 
proceeding in the Superior Court, a person whose probation is 
revoked 
may not appeal 
as 
of right. 
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and any conditions for the taking of the appeal are as the 
Supreme Judicial Court provides by rule. 
SUMMARY 
This bill makes 
changes 
in 
separate 
criminal 
appeal 
statutes in response to the Supreme Judicial Court's adoption of 
the Maine Rules of Appellate Procedure, effective January 1, 
2001, and in response to Public Law 2001, chapter 17, effective 
September 2001. 
Specifically, the changes are as follows. 
1. 
The Maine Revised Statutes, Title 15, 
section 2l0-A 
currently addresses both the hearing procedure 
and appellate 
review procedure relative to a petition contesting extradition. 
It has been amended to remove the appellate review procedure. 
The latter procedure, significantly abbreviated, has been moved 
into a new section 2l0-B. 
New section 2l0-B sets a 7-day time 
per iod for initiating an appeal and provides separate treatment 
for a petitioner-initiated appeal and a State-initiated appeal. 
The manner and conditions for the taking of an appeal are no 
longer addressed in the statute; instead, that procedure is left 
to the Supreme Judicial Court to provide by rule. 
2. 
Title 15, section 2l15-B has been amended to replace the 
current reference to the Maine Rules of Criminal Procedure with a 
reference to the Maine Rules of Appellate Procedure. 
3. 
Title 15, section 2131 addresses appellate review from a 
final judgment in a post-conviction review proceeding. 
It is 
amended to direct the Supreme Judicial Court to provide by rule 
for 
the 
time, 
manner 
and conditions 
for 
the 
taking of 
the 
appeal. 
The statute continues to treat an appeal by the State as 
"of right" while that of a petitioner is treated as "conditional." 
4. 
Title l7-A, section 1207, subsection 2 is modified to 
conform its language to that used in Public Law 2001, chapter 17.