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State v. Melanson8/27/2002
e similar experience. The court instructed the juror that it would not be improper for him to serve as long as he did not offer his own experiences or expertise as evidence in the jury deliberations, and the juror indicated that he would like to continue to serve on the jury. The following excerpts are representative of the dialog:
FN2. The transcript indicates that the jury left the courtroom at 4:20 p.m. and the court held a conference in chambers in regard to the jury's note at 4:34 p.m.
THE JUROR: I know exactly what I'd like to do. I'd like to continue to serve, but I want to make it clear that I want the gentleman to have a fair trial. But I *397 want to make it clear, as well, that both the defense and the prosecuting attorney know where I'm coming from.
....
THE COURT: I think as long as you don't start offering evidence in the jury room you'd be okay. I think--you're nodding. I think you understand that pretty well.
THE JUROR: Indeed I do.
....
[DEFENSE COUNSEL]: Do you have a concern that Mr. Melanson, he might not get a fair trial, to make sure he does get a fair trial? I'm trying to understand where your concerns may have changed?
THE JUROR: Well, again, I didn't have any concerns, but as the trial progressed I was just reflecting on my prior experience, and I think Your Honor made it very clear as long as I don't express--involve my expertise and just express how I view the trial as it's addressed, then I shouldn't be an overwhelming influence on someone because everybody has an opinion. I have mine and they have theirs, but I just felt it would be fair to your client that the system should know.
Once the juror was excused from the trial justice's chambers, the trial justice discussed the juror's statements with both counsel, and concluded:
THE COURT: [A]fter observing his demeanor, I got a real sense of sincerity from this guy, not only from his words but from his actions and his--reactions, and just his tone of voice and his demeanor convinced me that he has one concern which is to give the defendant [a fair trial,] he could easily have just not said a word to us and [it] never would have seen the light of day. He is probably the kind of guy we want to have as a juror. So over the defendant's objection, I'm going to direct the jury to continue their deliberations.
[ 7] The jury later returned a guilty verdict. The court sentenced Melanson to twenty days in the county jail, ordered him to pay $600 in fines, and suspended his driver's license for 180 days. Melanson then filed a timely appeal.
II. SUFFICIENCY OF THE EVIDENCE
[ 8] Melanson first argues that the evidence was not sufficient to support a conviction because "[t]here were no field sobriety tests, no actual refusal of taking a breath test, no proof that he had actually consumed alcohol and in fact when the officer was speaking to Mr. Melanson at the police station he [did not smell] liquor on him at all."
[ 9] "When reviewing the sufficiency of the evidence, we view the evidence in 'the light most favorable to the State to determine whether the trier of fact rationally could have found beyond a reasonable doubt every element of the offense charged.' " State v. McCurdy, 2002 ME 66, 10, 795 A.2d 84, 88 (quoting State v. Turner, 2001 ME 44, 6, 766 A.2d 1025, 1027). In order to prove that Melanson is guilty of OUI, the State is required to show that he operated a motor vehicle "[w]hile under the influence of intoxicants" or that he did so "[w]hile having a blood-alcohol level of 0.08% or more." See 29-A M.R.S.A. § 2411(1). "In an OUI prosecution, the State does not need precise evidence of a person's blood alcohol content (such as would be provided by the results of an intoxilyzer test) in order to prove that the pe
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