CARIBOU, Maine — The Maine Supreme Judicial Court on Thursday vacated a charge of unlawful sexual contact against an Aroostook County man, agreeing with the defense’s argument that a jury had not been properly instructed at the close of the original trial.
A jury convicted James P. Gantnier, 46, of Sherman in 2011 of the Class D offense and also of violating a condition of release.
Gantnier challenged both convictions on the grounds that Justice Allen Hunter declined defense attorney Jeffery Pickering’s of Houlton request to instruct the jury to consider a lesser included charge of simple Class D assault.
The Maine Supreme Court heard arguments in the case on Sept. 13.
In vacating the unlawful sexual contact charge, the justices said in their decision, “We agree with Gantnier that [Hunter] erred in denying Gantnier’s request to instruct the jury on assault (Class D) … as a lesser included offense of unlawful sexual contact [and] we vacate Gantnier’s conviction for unlawful sexual contact.”
The court upheld Gantnier’s conviction of violating a condition of his release.
Gantnier was charged in 2008 with unlawful sexual contact with a 14-year-old girl, according to the court documents.
According to the charge, Gantnier was alone with the girl, who was asleep on a couch when he touched her in what she described as “her private areas.”
For his part, Gantnier insisted he was attempting to wake the girl up by shaking her shoulder or hip and had no idea which part of her he was actually coming into contact as she was sleeping under a blanket.
“Essentially the defendant’s version was he did not sexually touch her but may have offensively touched her,” Todd Collins, Aroostook County District Attorney, said Thursday afternoon. “The Supreme Court felt the jury should have been given the option to convict on that lesser and included charge of simple assault.”
The decision, Collins said, does not exonerate Gantnier. Rather, it vacates the jury’s verdict based on a procedural error, he said, adding that his office likely will retry Gantnier on the original charge.
“We now go back to the starting line with a trial,” Collins said. “We had no problem convincing a jury beyond a reasonable doubt the first time on the [sexual contact] charge [and] we met the burden of proof.”
On Thursday Appellate Counsel Sarah LeClaire declined to comment on the possibility of a second trial but said she was pleased with the high court’s decision.
“We think it was the appropriate decision [and] the correct decision,” she said. “The real point is to make sure that trials are fair for everyone.”
Gantnier remains free on bail.
Give me a break please. Bigger cases to try
I heard this DA tried to indict the fleas on his dog.
I remember Mr. Let make a (Jim) Deihl . Witness admitted to lying and he still refused to drop charges . Funny Judge told him ” get his facts strait before you come back in my courtroom “. When politics mean more than the truth we have serious issues . No saying this man did nothing wrong I do not know? From what I read no one was hurt. Real pedophiles and the people who did not report go free. As in the Carlson case.
Essentially the defendant’s version was he did not sexually touch her but may have offensively touched her,” so he admitted he did touch her. But you feel no one was hurt by this touch. Ok, i’m sure that the young girl also feels the same, that’s why this is in the court system. Give me a break, an unwanted touch is a hurt. This is real, any sexual trauma, no matter how little is a crime.
I have no idea what happened . That being said most who rape kids never make it as far as court. Look at all the victims in the Carlson case . The whole system has serious issues . Most the time people molest kids in foster homes nothing is done but send the kid to another home. I am not saying he should not be punished if he had any intent on touching this girl in a sexual way . Just saying we do not know that was the case from what I read here. But I do know many who were required by law to report crimes against children did not and nothing is done to them . Some even rewarded like Bill Beardsly head of education commission ……………………….
The whole system has serious issues . You are so right in this comment. Most sexual abuse offenders are acquainted with their victims; approximately 30% are relatives of the child, most often brothers, fathers, uncles or cousins; around 60% are other acquaintances such as ‘friends’ of the family, babysitters, or neighbors; strangers are the offenders in approximately 10% of child sexual abuse cases. And I to believe that kids get abused in foster care. Most child sexual abuse is committed by men, studies show that women commit 14% to 40% of offenses reported against boys and 6% of offenses reported against girls. Most offenders who sexually abuse prepubescent children are pedophiles, although some offenders do not meet the clinical diagnosis standards for pedophilia. There are sick people that mingle in society, with most of us totally oblivious of “them” that walk among us.
Well look like you know the facts . I know the world is a dangerous place. Not all Pedophiles are evil . The boy older who has a 15 year old GF is not in the same class as the 50 year old man who likes 10 year old. The law dose not seem to be clear on this .
as bill clinton says”i did not have sexual relations with this girl”
Fairly easy to convict a person based upon words, of a man against a girl. Used to require evidence. Sad.
I wake up sleeping people by yelling ‘HEY ARE YOU AWAKE”. That way you don’t have to touch people who are under a blanket!