State of Maine v. Nathan Lee

Summary

The Supreme Judicial Court of Maine affirmed Nathan Lee's convictions for domestic violence aggravated assault and domestic violence criminal threatening with a dangerous weapon, rejecting his claim that two instances of prosecutorial error required vacatur. The court held that the prosecutor's attempt to lay a foundation for the detective sergeant to opine on a witness's credibility and his closing-argument statement that the victim's mother was 'pretty honest' were both plain error, but neither affected Lee's substantial rights under the obvious-error standard, and their cumulative effect did not deprive him of a fair trial. The court cautioned that where witness credibility is the cornerstone of the State's case, similar errors on different facts could require vacatur, and reminded prosecutors to avoid such 'foul blows.'