Opinion ID: 2011229
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: The Bind-Over

Text: Williams first argues that the State presented insufficient evidence at the bind-over hearing from which probable cause could be established that he was an accomplice to murder. [3] The State's initial burden at a bind-over proceeding is to establish probable cause to believe that a juvenile crime has been committed that would constitute murder or a Class A, Class B, or Class C crime and that the juvenile to be bound over has committed it. 15 M.R.S.A. § 3101(4)(E)(1) (Supp.1994). In the instant case, the State had to establish probable cause to believe that Williams was, at a minimum, an accomplice to the crime of assault against McDowell, that the murder of McDowell by Moontri occurred during the assault, and that the commission of the crime of murder by Moontri of McDowell was a reasonably foreseeable consequence of Williams's conduct. The reasonably foreseeable consequence requirement with respect to accomplice liability sets forth an objective criterion, i.e., what the average reasonable person would foresee in all the circumstances. State v. Kimball, 424 A.2d 684, 693 n. 4 (Me.1981). At the bind-over hearing, Jessica Blake described how Williams and Moontri started beating up McDowell when he tried to block their escape from the Shop & Save. Just before, with Williams at his side inside the store, Moontri had stabbed Lajoie. After the attack on McDowell, Williams confirmed his awareness of Moontri's use of the knife by shouting to two other Shop & Save employees, He's got a knife, he's got a knife. The average reasonable person with knowledge that Moontri was wielding a knife would have reasonably foreseen that the joint attack on McDowell could result in McDowell's death. Therefore, the Juvenile Court properly found probable cause that Williams was an accomplice to either the intentional and knowing murder or the depraved indifference murder of McDowell. Williams next argues that the Juvenile Court committed an error of law in focusing on only one of the required factors to be considered by the court pursuant to 15 M.R.S.A. § 3101(4)(D) (Supp.1994) in deciding that Williams should be bound over. Williams asserts that he was bound over solely because the Juvenile Court determined that the length of incarceration of a juvenile allowed in the juvenile system pursuant to 15 M.R.S.A. § 3314 (Supp.1994) would seriously diminish the gravity of the offense. In deciding whether to bind a juvenile over to the Superior Court, the Juvenile Court shall consider (1) the seriousness of the crime, (2) the characteristics of the juvenile, and (3) dispositional alternatives. 15 M.R.S.A. § 3101(4)(D) (Supp.1994). The Juvenile Court must find by a preponderance of the evidence that, after a consideration of the three factors, it is appropriate to prosecute the juvenile as if he were an adult. 15 M.R.S.A. § 3101(4)(E)(2) (Supp.1994). [T]he statute does not dictate the weight to be given to the specific factors, nor does it provide that each factor must be affirmatively shown before it is appropriate to prosecute a juvenile as an adult. State v. Sanborn, 644 A.2d 475, 478 (Me.1994). In its findings in the instant case, the Juvenile Court considered all the factors. The court found that murder is the most serious crime under the laws of the State of Maine and that Williams's participation was aggressive and violent. The court spent considerable time discussing Williams's social history and his long involvement with the juvenile system. The court determined that because of Williams's age (the crime was committed about two weeks before his eighteenth birthday), his social history and involvement with the juvenile system, and the seriousness of the crime, the dispositional alternatives available in the juvenile system were not sufficient. The Juvenile Court did not commit an error of law or abuse its discretion in concluding that it was appropriate to prosecute Williams as if he were an adult and in waiving the jurisdiction of the Juvenile Court over him.