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Rule 44A – Procedure for Determination of Indigency after Verdict or Finding

May 13, 2021 | Criminal Procedure, Maine

(a) Petition and Hearing. A defendant who has filed notice of appeal and who claims to be without financial means to prosecute the appeal may, within 14 days following the filing of the notice of appeal, file a petition in the court in which the defendant was convicted requesting that the defendant be declared indigent. The petition shall be heard promptly. The clerk of the Unified Criminal Docket shall forthwith notify the clerk of the Law Court of the filing of a petition pursuant to this Rule.
(b) Order. If, after hearing, the court finds that the petitioner is without financial means with which to prosecute the appeal, it shall grant the relief requested. If, after hearing, the court finds that the petitioner has financial means with which to bear a portion of the expense of prosecuting the appeal, it shall grant the relief requested but may condition its order on the petitioner’s paying a portion of the expense of prosecuting the appeal. If, after hearing, the court finds that the petitioner has financial means with which to prosecute the appeal, the petition shall be denied.

When a conditional order is issued or when a petition is denied, the court shall file a decree setting forth its findings.

(c) Review. From the findings filed following the denial of a petition or the granting of a conditional order, the petitioner may, within 14 days after the filing thereof, appeal to a justice of the Supreme Judicial Court if the petition is denied in the Unified Criminal Docket. The justice, after notice to the attorney for the State, shall hear the matter de novo, and may affirm, modify, or reverse the findings of the court below. If the findings are modified or reversed, the matter shall be remanded to the court below for appropriate action. The decision of the reviewing justice shall be final. During the pendency of this appeal the time periods for the perfection of the appeal on the merits shall not run, but shall commence to run upon final disposition of the petition. The clerk below shall forthwith notify the clerk of the Law Court of such final disposition and the date of its entry.

Me. R. Uni. Crim. P. 44A

Last amended effective November 2, 2016.