Opinion ID: 1470596
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: facts

Text: [¶ 2] The record evidence, viewed in the light most favorable to the jury's verdict, reveals the following facts. Daniel Roberts and the victim, Melissa Mendoza, met in California in 2002 and began dating shortly thereafter. Later that year, Mendoza became pregnant and returned with Roberts to his home in Maine where the two began living together. Mendoza gave birth to their daughter in Maine in May 2003. The couple's relationship was marked by conflict, with Mendoza moving in and out of Roberts's home on numerous occasions, and often traveling back and forth between Maine and California. [¶ 3] In September 2003, the District Court (Lewiston, Carlson, M. ) entered an order regarding parental rights and responsibilities with respect to the couple's daughter. The order provided for shared parental rights and responsibilities, with primary physical residence of the daughter split evenly between Mendoza and Roberts and alternating every six months, beginning with Mendoza. However, the parties did not generally abide by the order and the daughter lived almost exclusively with Mendoza until June 2005.
[¶ 4] In June 2005, the couple separated for the last time and Roberts, pursuant to the September 2003 order, had primary physical residence of the daughter in Maine while Mendoza returned to California. Mendoza traveled to Maine in July 2005 and consulted with an attorney regarding her desire to obtain a modification of the September 2003 parental rights and responsibilities order. Prior to pursuing this modification, however, Mendoza returned to California with the daughter and apparently without Roberts's consent. While Mendoza was in Maine in July, someone slashed two tires on her rental car. [¶ 5] Upon learning that Mendoza had taken the daughter to California in violation of the September 2003 order, Roberts sought emergency enforcement of the parental rights order in the District Court and traveled to California to try to find the daughter. Shortly thereafter, Mendoza turned the daughter over to police in California, and Roberts brought the daughter back to Maine. The order issued by the District Court pursuant to Roberts's motion for emergency enforcement provided that a hearing would be held on August 8, 2005, regarding visitation with the daughter.
[¶ 6] At the August 8 hearing, the court granted Mendoza supervised visitation with the daughter beginning at 1 P.M. that day and continuing until the next evening, as well as during the next three weekends. The court appointed Dawn Destrini as the visitation supervisor upon Mendoza's suggestion and Destrini's agreement, with visits to occur at Destrini's home where Mendoza would thereafter be staying. The court also scheduled a case management conference on a motion to modify filed by Mendoza for September 12, 2005. [¶ 7] Upon leaving the hearing, Mendoza discovered that someone had smashed the windshield of her rental car with a rock. Although Destrini picked the daughter up at 1 P.M. for Mendoza's scheduled visitation that day, Mendoza did not arrive at Destrini's home until around 5 P.M., due at least in part to the vandalism to her rental car. At some point during that evening, Roberts learned that Mendoza had been late for her scheduled visit and insisted that the daughter be returned to him. Mendoza subsequently returned the daughter to Roberts, prior to the end of her scheduled visitation. [¶ 8] On the morning of August 9, 2005, Destrini discovered that four tires on two of her vehicles had been slashed. As a result of this incident, as well as conversations between the Destrinis, Roberts, and Mendoza, Dawn Destrini informed the District Court that she would no longer serve as visitation supervisor for Mendoza. In addition, Destrini informed Mendoza that she could no longer stay at Destrini's home, and Mendoza checked into a hotel. As a result of Destrini's decision not to continue as visitation supervisor, the court held a hearing on August 10 to revise its order with regard to Mendoza's visitation with the daughter.
[¶ 9] At the August 10 hearing, Mendoza stated that she did not know of anyone else in the area who could serve as supervisor for her and did not have a suitable place in which to hold visits because she was staying in a hotel. Roberts then proposed two individuals to serve as supervisors  Kim Teehan and Stacey Robitaille  and also proposed that the visits take place at his home, which he would vacate during Mendoza's visits. The court ultimately entered an amended order providing for Mendoza to have visitation according to the previous schedule, but supervised by Teehan and Robitaille and occurring at Roberts's home. The first visit pursuant to this order was to occur over the weekend, beginning at 11 A.M. on August 12 and continuing until 5 P.M. on August 14. During the hearing, Roberts was served with a temporary protection from abuse order obtained by Mendoza the previous day, which the court amended during the hearing on August 10 to reflect the just-entered visitation order. [¶ 10] Mendoza's visit with the daughter occurred as scheduled from August 12 to August 14.
[¶ 11] During the evening of August 14 and the early morning hours of August 15, Mendoza and Roberts exchanged a number of heated phone calls, some of which Mendoza recorded. Sometime after 1 A.M. on August 15, Mendoza called Roberts asking to come to Roberts's home. Roberts told Mendoza she could as long as she did not pull anything stupid. Mendoza arrived at Roberts's home shortly thereafter, and entered the garage through a side pedestrian door. Roberts fatally shot Mendoza once in the back of the head. Roberts then called 911 and told the dispatcher that he had just shot Mendoza because she had arrived at his home armed with a gun that, he claimed, she had stolen from his home during her earlier visit and had threatened to shoot the baby and me.
[¶ 12] On December 6, 2005, Roberts was charged by indictment with one count of murder, 17-A M.R.S. § 201(1)(A), for the death of Mendoza. He pleaded not guilty on December 8, 2005, and a jury trial was held from February 6 to February 27, 2007. At trial, Roberts did not deny that he had shot Mendoza. His theory was that the killing was justified based on his belief that Mendoza came to his home, armed with a loaded weapon, to kidnap their daughter or to kill him and the daughter. [¶ 13] At trial, the State presented abundant evidence regarding the history of Roberts and Mendoza's relationship and the events leading to Mendoza's death. The State also presented evidence that Mendoza had a loving relationship with the daughter such that Roberts could not have thought Mendoza actually intended to harm their daughter on August 15. Finally, the State sought to establish, through lay and expert witness testimony, that Mendoza had not been armed with Roberts's gun when she arrived at Roberts's home that morning and Roberts could not have believed that Mendoza posed a threat to his or their daughter's life. [¶ 14] Roberts's theory of the case was that he shot Mendoza in defense of his own life and his daughter's life, or to prevent Mendoza from kidnapping the daughter. To support this theory, Roberts called several witnesses to testify to Mendoza's past acts of violence and anger toward Roberts and toward women who Mendoza believed Roberts was romantically involved with, all for the purpose of showing Roberts's state of mind at the time of the shooting. In addition, Roberts called witnesses to testify that Mendoza had told them of her plans to take the daughter to California or to hide with her in Kentucky. Roberts also sought to establish that Mendoza had stolen a loaded gun from his home during her weekend visit with the daughter and that she had this gun with her when she arrived at his home on August 15. [¶ 15] At the close of all the evidence, counsel for both sides gave closing arguments. Roberts's closing focused on the theory that Mendoza came to Roberts's home with a loaded gun either to kill Roberts and the daughter or to kidnap the daughter. In its rebuttal argument, the State argued that the kidnapping theory was a new story developed by the defense for trial. Specifically, the State pointed to the fact that Roberts had consistently maintained, in his 911 call, his interview with police, and at a subsequent child protective hearingall of which the jury heard at trialthat Mendoza had stated that she was going to kill him and the daughter, but he never stated that he thought Mendoza was going to kidnap the daughter.
[¶ 16] Prior to instructing the jury, the court engaged in extensive discussions regarding instructions with counsel. Although the State agreed that Roberts was entitled to an instruction on the use of deadly force in defense of self and others pursuant to 17-A M.R.S. § 108(2)(A) (2007), [1] it contended that the jury should not be instructed that Roberts could be justified in using deadly force to prevent a kidnapping for two reasons: (1) the evidence did not generate the instruction because following the shooting Roberts had only stated that he thought Mendoza was going to kill the daughter and him, but had never mentioned kidnapping; and (2) Mendoza, as the daughter's mother, was legally incapable of committing a kidnapping pursuant to Maine's kidnapping statute, 17-A M.R.S. § 301(2-B)(2007). [2] [¶ 17] Ultimately, the jury was instructed on the elements of knowing and intentional murder, 17-A M.R.S. § 201(1)(A); the elements of kidnapping pursuant to 17-A M.R.S. § 301(1), (2) (2007); and the elements of criminal restraint by a parent, 17-A M.R.S. § 303(1)(A), (B) (2007). The jury was also instructed that it is a defense to a prosecution for the crime of kidnapping that the person restrained is the child of the actor. The court also instructed the jury with regard to the defense of self and others justification as follows: A person is justified in using deadly force upon another person when the person actually believes it is necessary and believes such other person is about to use unlawful deadly force against him or against a third person, or committing or about to commit a kidnapping, robbery, or gross sexual assault against the person or a third person. . . . Because the evidence in this case generates an issue of whether the defendant acted in self-defense or in defense of [the daughter], to support a murder conviction the state must prove beyond a reasonable doubt that, (a) with the purpose to cause physical harm to another person the defendant provoked the encounter, or (b) the defendant [did not believe] that the deceased was . . . about to use deadly force against him and [the daughter] and the defendant did not believe that the deceased was about to kidnap [the daughter], or (c) the defendant did not believe that his use of deadly force was necessary to defend himself and [the daughter]. [¶ 18] The jury returned a verdict of guilty and the court subsequently sentenced Roberts to a term of fifty-five years imprisonment. This appeal followed.