State of Maine v. Holly Morrison, 135 A.3d 343

In October 2013 Holly Morrison and her boyfriend engaged in multiple acts of gross sexual assault against Morrison’s 13-year-old daughter; Morrison had an extensive history of sexual abuse.
Morrison was charged with one count of gross sexual assault (Class A) and three counts of child endangerment (Class D); gross sexual assault is a strict liability offense, endangerment requires recklessness.
At trial Morrison did not deny the acts but asserted an involuntary conduct defense, attempting to introduce testimony from a licensed counselor about how Morrison’s history of abuse affected her decision-making.
The trial court excluded the counselor’s testimony as irrelevant to involuntary conduct, reasoning involuntariness requires a reflexive or convulsive physical act over which a person has no control, not impaired judgment.
Morrison testified about her abuse history and its effect on her decision-making; she was convicted by a jury and appealed.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Admissibility of counselor testimony to support involuntary conduct defense	Counselor’s testimony about Morrison’s abuse and impaired decision-making is relevant to showing her conduct was involuntary	Testimony was irrelevant because involuntary conduct requires a reflexive/physically uncontrollable act, not impaired judgment	Exclusion affirmed: testimony not relevant to involuntary conduct because it would not show a reflexive or convulsive act

State v. Begin, 120 A.3d 97 (Me. 2015) (standard for viewing evidence in light most favorable to the State on sufficiency review)
State v. Dolloff, 58 A.3d 1032 (Me. 2012) (appellate review of relevance determinations for clear error)
State v. Case, 672 A.2d 586 (Me. 1996) (involuntary conduct defined to include reflexes and acts over which a person has no control)
State v. Flick, 425 A.2d 167 (Me. 1981) (distinguishing non-volitional action from concepts of judgment and choice)

Judgment affirmed.