State of Maine v. Denis Lemieux

Augusta, Maine, criminal defense lawyer represented the Defendant contesting the revocation of his probation.

On October 17, 2023, the trial court (Kennebec County, Daniel Mitchell, J.) entered a judgment of conviction after Denis Lemieux pleaded guilty to domestic violence terrorizing (Class C), 17-A M.R.S. § 210-B(1)(B)(1) (2025).

Lemieux argues that before revoking his probation, the court should have examined the constitutionality of the statute under which he was convicted.

In 2012, we held that a defendant may not collaterally attack a prior conviction used for sentence enhancement by claiming that the underlying guilty plea leading to the prior conviction was not based on an effective waiver. State v. Johnson, 2012 ME 39, ¶ 23, 38 A.3d 1270. We reasoned that “[a]llowing a collateral attack in cases like [that one] would provide convicted defendants an incentive to forego a timely appeal or petition for post-conviction review, knowing that they will never lose the ability to challenge the validity of the conviction if, in the future, it is relied upon by the State to enhance a new criminal charge.”

Affirmed