Opinion ID: 2679909
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: facts

Text: [¶2] On February 5, 2013, Sanchez was charged by complaint with criminal trespass. See id. The criminal trespass statute provides, in relevant part, that “[a] person is guilty of criminal trespass if, knowing that that person is not licensed or privileged to do so, that person . . . [e]nters any place in defiance of a lawful order 2 not to enter that was personally communicated to that person by the owner or another authorized person.” Id. Sanchez pleaded not guilty on February 11, 2013. [¶3] During a bench trial held on March 14, 2013, the State presented the testimony of two witnesses: Rockland Police Officer William Smith, who had ordered Sanchez not to return to the Rite Aid store, and Rockland Police Officer Scott Solozarno, who arrested Sanchez six months later at the same Rite Aid. The State did not offer testimony from any Rite Aid employee. [¶4] Smith, the State’s first witness, testified that after receiving a report of shoplifting from the Rite Aid, he located the suspects—Sanchez, whom he already knew, and another person—a block and a half from the store. Both denied shoplifting. Smith subsequently went to the Rite Aid, where, according to Smith’s testimony, an employee informed him that they did not want Sanchez to return. Sanchez objected to this testimony as inadmissible hearsay. See M.R. Evid. 802. The court admitted Smith’s answer for the limited purpose of explaining Smith’s state of mind. See M.R. Evid. 803(3) (providing that state-of-mind testimony may not be offered “to prove the fact remembered”). In so ruling, the court reasoned that it was “not assuming [Smith] actually had the authority” to order Sanchez not to enter the Rite Aid, but rather regarded the question as “whether the officer acted in the belief that he had the authority.” Smith also testified that he then returned to 3 Sanchez and his companion and told Sanchez that he was prohibited from returning to the Rite Aid. [¶5] Solozarno, the State’s second and last witness, testified that about six months later, he received a complaint from the Rite Aid store that Sanchez was present in the store. Solozarno arrested Sanchez at the Rite Aid for violating Smith’s earlier trespass order not to enter the store. [¶6] During his closing argument, Sanchez argued that the State had not proved that he violated the criminal trespass statute because the State failed to prove that Smith was “authorized” to order Sanchez not to enter the Rite Aid. See 17-A M.R.S. § 402(1)(E). The court found Sanchez guilty and imposed a sentence of seven days in jail. The court found that the report of shoplifting, the descriptions of the suspects, conversations with unidentified employees, and Smith’s statement to Sanchez all combined to demonstrate Smith’s authority to issue an order within the meaning of the criminal trespass statute. See id. The court also reasoned that the criminal trespass statute authorized Smith to order Sanchez not to enter Rite Aid based solely on his suspicion that Sanchez was shoplifting. See id. Sanchez appealed and was granted a stay pending his appeal. 4