Court Opinion

ID: 9706585
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-26 01:47:00.455623+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:22:23.783015
License: Public Domain

WATHEN, Justice,
dissenting.
I respectfully dissent from the Court’s opinion concerning trial counsel’s failure to appeal the omission of an instruction on adequate provocation manslaughter. I submit that the Court has ignored the actual ruling of the post-conviction justice below and engaged in its own factfinding in order to sustain a ruling based on a misconception of the law. I would vacate the judgment, thereby correcting the misconception, and remand to the post-conviction justice for further factfinding.
In response to the claim of ineffective assistance of counsel, the post-conviction justice found that defense counsel “did request [a manslaughter] instruction, albeit off the record, and the court rejected it. [Counsel’s] failure to preserve this issue on the record was not error, particularly in view of the fact that the court rejected the requested instruction and it would appear that on the facts of the case the defense of adequate provocation was not generated.” (emphasis added).
Claims of ineffective assistance of counsel are resolved by applying the “reasonably competent assistance” standard set forth in Lang v. Murch, 438 A.2d 914 (Me.1981):
(1) Has there been serious incompetency, inefficiency or inattention of counsel— performance by counsel which falls measurably below that which might be expected from an ordinary fallible attorney?
(2) Has such ineffective representation by counsel likely deprived the defendant of an otherwise available substantial ground of defense?
The factual findings of the post-conviction justice are reviewed under the “clearly erroneous” test and are overturned only if they are unsupported by evidence. True v. State, 457 A.2d 793, 795 (Me.1983). In the present case, however, the court’s factual findings are premised on the legal conclusion that “the defense of adequate provocation was not generated.” Based on that conclusion, the presiding justice was logically compelled to answer both inquiries under Lang in the negative. No attorney *1266could be faulted for failing to raise a defense that is not generated on the record. In affirming the judgment below, this Court avoids upholding the conclusion that the defense was not generated. Rather the Court suggests subtly that the defense did not have strong evidentiary support. The Court then finds as a fact that defense counsel’s conduct did not fall below that which might be expected from an ordinary fallible attorney.
The conclusion is inescapable that the post-conviction justice erroneously held that the defense was not generated on the trial record. Under the Maine Criminal Code, the essential inquiry for reducing murder to manslaughter is whether the actor causes death “while under the influence of extreme anger or extreme fear brought about by adequate provocation.”1 The post-conviction justice offered no basis for his conclusion that the mitigating defense was not generated. The State attempts to support his ruling by arguing that the conduct of Ms. Tribou could not legally serve to provoke the killing of Mr. Cote, and even if it could, her conduct could not support a finding of adequate provocation. The State does not argue that the rule of mitigation is necessarily confined to acts of marital infidelity. See 2 LaFave & Scott, Substantive Criminal Law, § 7.10(b)(5) at 259 (1986). Rather, the State argues that the acts of a provocateur (Ms. Tribou) cannot mitigate the killing of an “innocent bystander” (Mr. Cote). See id. at § 7.10(g). On the facts of this case, while it is true that Mr. Cote is not the paramour of an adulterous spouse, neither is he correctly described as a bystander. Moreover, the statute we apply speaks in general terms without categorical exclusion. The inquiry posed by the statute is whether petitioner acted under the influence of extreme anger or fear brought about by adequate provocation. 17-A M.R. S.A. § 201(3) & (4). The adequacy of the provocation and the reasonableness of petitioner’s response “are conclusions of fact to be drawn by the trier of fact.” State v. Flick, 425 A.2d 167, 172 (Me.1981).
The record in this case contradicts the finding of the post-conviction justice that no evidence of provocation was offered. Accordingly, his findings under Lang are tainted by a mistake of law. We should vacate unless we can rule that, although the defense was generated, no jury could rationally have found that the defense was established by a preponderance of the evidence.2 I am unable to make such a ruling and, even though this Court affirms, it does not hold that the events leading up to the killing of Richard Cote could not support a finding of adequate provocation. *1267Under our statute it remains a question of fact whether any such provocation is reasonable in light of the immediate circumstances and the history of marital difficulty, the recent divorce, continuing jealousy and affection, and continuing efforts at reconciliation.
In finding as fact that petitioner received reasonably competent legal assistance during his trial and appeal, the post-conviction justice erroneously assumed that trial counsel was charged with having failed to preserve and appeal a defense that was not generated by the evidence. Because the defense was generated, defendant was entitled to a manslaughter instruction if his request had been properly preserved. I would vacate and remand for an assessment, pursuant to Lang, of trial counsel’s performance in failing to preserve and appeal a defense that was generated by the evidence. I recognize that on remand the post-conviction justice could make the same finding of fact that this Court has made, but the petitioner is entitled to his judgment on the facts.

. 17-A M.R.S.A. § 201 provides in pertinent part:
3. It is an affirmative defense to a prosecution [for intentional or knowing murder] that the actor causes the death while under the influence of extreme anger or extreme fear brought about by adequate provocation.
4. For purposes of subsection 3, provocation is adequate if:
A. It is not induced by the actor; and
B. It is reasonable for the actor to react to the provocation with extreme anger or extreme fear, provided that evidence demonstrating only that the actor has a tendency towards extreme anger or extreme fear shall not be sufficient, in and of itself, to establish the reasonableness of his reaction.
5. Nothing contained in subsection 3 may constitute a defense to a prosecution for, or preclude conviction of, manslaughter or any other crime.
Section 203(1)(B) correspondingly provides:
1. A person is guilty of manslaughter if he:
B. Intentionally or knowingly causes the death of another human being under circumstances which do not constitute murder because he causes the death while under the influence of extreme anger or extreme fear brought about by adequate provocation. Adequate provocation has the same meaning as in section 201, subsection 4. The fact that he causes the death while under the influence of extreme anger or extreme fear brought about by adequate provocation constitutes a mitigating circumstance reducing murder to manslaughter and need not be proved in any prosecution initiated under this subsection.

. Because adequate provocation manslaughter is an affirmative defense, defendant is charged with both the burden of going forward with the evidence and the burden of persuasion to a preponderance. 17-A M.R.S.A. § 101(2) (1983). Our opinion in State v. Inman, 350 A.2d 582 (Me.1976) precedes both the Criminal Code and the opinion of the United States Supreme Court in Patterson v. New York, 432 U.S. 197, 97 S.Ct. 2319, 53 L.Ed.2d 281 (1977).