The Maine Supreme Judicial Court has strengthened protections from self-incrimination in a decision last week.
The court ruled that a suspect in police custody must explicitly agree to waive their right against self-incrimination. And if a suspect makes an unclear statement, law enforcement officers must stop the interrogation and clarify.
“So essentially, this ruling means police aren’t allowed to guess, they aren’t allowed to just continue on with interrogation when the suspect might be invoking those really important constitutional rights,” said Carol Garvan, legal director for the ACLU of Maine.
In the same ruling, the court overturned a drug trafficking conviction against Derric McLain. The court found he did not waive his right against self-incrimination, and his statements to law enforcement should not have been included in his 2020 trial. The case will now return to the trial court for further proceedings.
Garvan said the decision bolsters the right against self-incrimination.
“Which is one of the most basic rights in our justice system, the right not to have someone be compelled to incriminate themselves, not to have involuntary confessions and not to have coercive police questioning that really is about getting someone to say something rather than what that process should be, which is about seeking the truth,” she said.
The decision counters rulings from the U.S. Supreme Court, but the Maine Supreme Judicial Court has long held that the state Constitution provides more protection against self-incrimination than the U.S. Constitution. This ruling also aligns with decisions from state courts in Hawaii, Minnesota and Massachusetts.
This story appears through a media partnership with Maine Public.
