State v. Milne, 25 A.3d 943

Milne waived jury trial and was convicted by bench trial of eluding an officer and passing a roadblock; other motor vehicle offenses were also charged, with some later resolved in Milne's favor.
On September 24, 2009, deputies responded to a burglary call; Milne was reported driving a blue pickup matching the intruder's description.
A deputy pursued Milne in a marked cruiser with blue lights and siren; Milne allegedly traveled at speeds around 65 mph on rural roads and 45 mph in town, then fled through town, crossed a lawn, abandoned the truck, and ran into the woods.
A second deputy positioned a cruiser in the northbound lane with lights and siren activated; Milne passed that cruiser traveling southbound; the deputy did not signal or block the roadway or place a barrier.
Milne was ultimately apprehended after authorities directed witnesses to the wooded area where he fled; the roadblock issue centered on whether the parked cruiser constituted a clearly identifiable roadblock.
The court held Milne guilty of eluding but vacated the roadblock conviction and remanded for potential resentencing.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Sufficiency of eluding evidence	Milne argues evidence fails to prove eluding beyond reasonable doubt.	State contends signals, speed, and pursuit establish eluding beyond doubt.	Eluding affirmed.
Sufficiency of passing a roadblock	Milne contends there was a clearly identifiable roadblock.	State contends no clearly identifiable roadblock existed.	Roadblock conviction vacated.

State v. Skarbinski, 21 A.3d 86 (Me. 2011) (sufficiency review in light of favorable construction of evidence)
State v. Bruzzese, 974 A.2d 311 (Me. 2009) (standard for reviewing sufficiency of evidence)
State v. Dana, 517 A.2d 719 (Me. 1986) (strict construction of roadblock statutes)