The Maine Supreme Judicial Court on Thursday unanimously upheld the murder conviction of a New York man who shot and killed a Maine women in the back of the head in Cherryfield 4½ years ago.
Carine Reeves, 41, argued in his appeal that his indictment should have been dismissed because his trial was not held within 120 days following his return to Maine from New York, where he had been held on unrelated charges.
It was the second time the justices had rejected a murderer’s argument that the state’s COVID-19 restrictions interfered with his rights. The justices last April turned back a Windham man’s appeal of his 40-year sentence for murder after he argued that pandemic restrictions violated his constitutional rights by keeping him from confronting his accusers at his sentencing.
In his appeal, Reeves also argued that the judge should have granted his request to have his attorneys replaced mid-trial and not held sidebar conferences in a hallway.
The justices disagreed and found that Reeve’s constitutional right to a speedy trial was not violated by the suspension of jury trials at the height of the coronavirus pandemic.
Reeves, who has a violent criminal history, was in Maine selling drugs when he killed Sally Shaw, 55, of New Gloucester in July 2017. Shaw’s body was found by a passing motorist on Route 193.
A jury found Reeves guilty of murder on Oct. 5, 2020, after five days of testimony at the Penobscot Judicial Center in Bangor. It was the first jury trial in a homicide case held after the pandemic dramatically curtailed court proceedings. He was sentenced to 48 years in prison.
Prior to his trial, Reeves, a Black man, objected to wearing a mask before the jury, claiming it would subject him to racial profiling by jurors. He did not appeal the judge’s order that everyone in the courtroom wear masks.
Reeves was returned to Maine from New York on Jan. 21, 2020. The Interstate Agreement on Detainers required that he be tried within 120 days, according to his appeal. His trial was set for May 2020 but by then, the court system was not conducting jury trials due to the pandemic.
The state’s high court on Thursday found that his trial was held within 120 days as required by the compact once the six months during which the court system had suspended jury trials was subtracted from the amount of time Reeves was in Maine awaiting trial.
Justices found that Reeves waived his right to seek new representation once the trial began and could not fire his attorneys mid-trial. They also found that Reeves had not properly preserved his argument over sidebars being held outside the courtroom for an appeal, so did not consider it.
Assistant Attorney General Donald Macomber, who handled the appeal, praised the ruling Thursday.
“We are pleased with the decision,” he said. “We hope that this brings some small measure of closure to the family of Sally Shaw.”
Rory McNamara of York, who handled Reeves’ appeal, said that his client is considering his appeal options but was critical of the ruling.
“The court’s decision today indicates that it’s a reality that defendants in Maine state courts no longer have the benefit of the same rights to timely, speedy trials that they would’ve had pre-pandemic,” McNamara said.