State v. Lemay, 2012 ME 86

Lemay appeals convictions for gross sexual assault, criminal threatening with a dangerous weapon, eluding an officer, attempted escape, and tampering with a victim following a jury trial.
Charging and joinder: State sought to join eight counts from three related incidents under Rule 8(a); Lemay objected.
Pretrial rulings: court granted joinder, denied suppression motions related to statements about attempted escape, and allowed use of some statements for impeachment.
Evidence and context: incidents occurred June–July 2010; one involved a June assault with knife, another involved a car pursuit; a July 2 escape attempt while in jail followed by a July 22 letter planning threats to the victim.
Trial management: court instructed jurors to evaluate each charge separately and not infer guilt from number of charges; Lemay did not testify at trial.
Judgment and appeal: Lemay was convicted on five counts and sentenced to concurrent terms; he appeals arguing improper joinder and related prejudice.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether joinder under Rule 8(a) was proper	Lemay contends joinder was improper due to prejudice	Lemay argues excessive prejudice from combining distinct offenses	Joinder proper; offenses connected and evidence supports consolidation
Whether relief from prejudicial joinder under Rule 8(d) was warranted	Lemay argues suppression of linked statements warranted severance	State maintained joinder preserved probative value; prejudice minimized by instructions	No abuse of discretion; joinder stayed, prejudice adequately mitigated
Whether the joinder violated Lemay’s Fifth Amendment right to testify	Joint trial would force Lemay to testify on all counts or none	Joinder could coerce testimony across charges	No denial of right to testify; record lacks particularized proof of prejudice; no severance required

State v. Medeiros, 2010 ME 47 (Me. 2010) (broad construction of Rule 8; review for abuse of discretion)
United States v. Jordan, 112 F.3d 14 (1st Cir. 1997) (prejudice from joinder considerations; separate trial guidance)
Barnes v. State, 2004 ME 38 (Me. 2004) (flight/consciousness of guilt as admissible evidence)
State v. Brown, 1998 ME 129 (Me. 1998) (number of charges not inherently prejudicial; jury instructions across counts)
Pierce v. State, 2001 ME 14 (Me. 2001) (three types of prejudice from joinder; liberal Rule 8(d) interpretation)
Lakin v. State, 2006 ME 64 (Me. 2006) (threshold showing required for severance; particularized offer of proof)