State Right to Appeal: Has Maine Been Too Cautious?

The Legislature of the State of Maine recently passed an act relating to appeals by the State on questions of law in criminal cases. The Governor's approval of the act on January 29, 1968, was the culmination of some three years of research and debate. The purpose of this comment is to examine the form and scope of the act in light of the continuing controversy in other jurisdictions over the conflict of interests between the people and the accused in what may be characterized as a trend toward more comprehensive state appeal laws, to the end of concluding whether Maine's act will withstand the requirements of the Maine constitutional double jeopardy provision and the fourteenth amendment as it might apply federal jeopardy standards to the states. Further, this comment will focus on the particular problems created by the new Maine law with respect to its procedural and substantive impact upon the parties in interest. Finally, it will be shown that there are two important areas of constitutionally permissible state appeal of which Maine has not availed itself, appeal from judgment of acquittal after verdict, and appeal from the granting of a motion for new trial.