State v. Downs

[¶ 26] I respectfully dissent. The Court’s opinion today confounds longstanding, well-accepted, and often utilized trial court practice for sentencing individuals convicted, at one time, of multiple, serious felonies. In so doing, the Court applies an “ends justifies the means” approach to its sentence review authority to alter a sentence it dislikes, without regard to how the words of its opinion may affect real world application of laws intended to punish serious criminals.

[¶ 27] To justify its novel interpretation of Maine law, the Court first declares: “We have not previously opined on…