BANGOR, Maine — A Rockport man did not receive a fair trial last year, which led to his conviction for sexually assaulting a young girl, a criminal defense lawyer from Boston told Maine supreme court justices on Tuesday.
R. Bradford Bailey said prosecution witnesses were allowed to provide hearsay testimony about what the victim said to them, which should not have been admitted as evidence against his client Erik L. Vultee. Bailey also was critical of the strategy used by Vultee’s attorney at trial, Steven Peterson.
Vultee, 45, was sentenced in August 2014 to serve 14 years in prison after being convicted on 10 counts of unlawful sexual contact, as well as single counts of attempted gross sexual assault, visual aggression against a child, sexual misconduct with a child and unlawful sexual touching.
Bailey said he had been hired by Vultee but couldn’t represent him during the trial because he was handling a federal racketeering trial at the same time.
The justices of the Maine Supreme Judicial Court, who are hearing cases this week at the Penobscot Judicial Center in Bangor, questioned whether the appeal was the proper route for Vultee. Instead, justices asked Bailey whether there should be a post-conviction review based on ineffective counsel. The justices also suggested that the trial attorney’s strategy may have been to show that the victim in the case had made contradictory statements and that not contesting the witnesses’ testimony was a way to show off those contradictions.
District Attorney Geoffrey Rushlau told the justices there was substantial evidence that led to the convictions and said he saw no obvious error at trial.
Testimony during the trial showed that the offenses occurred from 2009 through 2011 at Vultee’s home, where Vultee was watching the child for the girl’s mother. The girl, who was 8 when she said the assaults started, reported the abuse in 2012 to a family friend.
To reach a sexual assault advocate, call the Statewide Sexual Assault Crisis and Support Line at 800-871-7741, TTY 888-458-5599. This free and confidential 24-hour service is accessible from anywhere in Maine. Calls are automatically routed to the closest sexual violence service provider.