State v. Hallowell

285 A.3d 276

2022 ME 55

STATE of Maine

v.Christopher HALLOWELL

Docket: Pis-21-378

Supreme Judicial Court of Maine.

Argued: September 8, 2022

Decided: November 10, 2022

Maxwell Coolidge, Esq., Ellsworth, for appellant Christopher Hallowell

Marianne Lynch, District Attorney, and Mark A. Rucci, Dept. Dist. Atty., Prosecutorial District V, Bangor, for appellee State of Maine

Panel: MEAD, JABAR, HORTON, CONNORS, and LAWRENCE, JJ.

MEAD, J.

[¶1] Christopher Hallowell appeals from a judgment of conviction for attempted murder (Class A), 17-A M.R.S. §§ 152(1)(A), 201 (2018) ;¹ aggravated assault (Class B), 17-A M.R.S. § 208(1)(B) (2022) ; criminal threatening with a dangerous weapon (Class C), 17-A M.R.S. § 209(1) (2022) ; 17-A M.R.S. § 1252(4) (2018) ;² three counts of reckless conduct with a dangerous weapon (Class C), 17-A M.R.S. § 211(1) (2018) ; 17-A M.R.S. § 1252(4) ; eluding an officer (Class C), 29-A M.R.S. § 2414(3) (2022) ; and criminal mischief with a dangerous weapon (Class C), 17-A M.R.S. § 806(1)(A) (2022) ; 17-A M.R.S. § 1252(4), entered by the trial court (Piscataquis County, Anderson, J. ) following a nonjury trial.

[¶2] Hallowell contends that the court failed to adequately consider the evidence that he was suffering from a serious mental abnormality that "made it impossible for him to form the requisite intent to kill," and that because evidence was presented at trial that he suffered from an abnormal condition of the mind, there was insufficient evidence to prove intent beyond a reasonable doubt. See 17-A M.R.S. § 38 (2018).³ Hallowell also contends that his "long-standing mental health problems" and the "conflicting version of events" he described to different evaluators constituted "compelling evidence" that the court improperly ignored in its "cursory treatment" of his affirmative defense of insanity. We affirm the judgment.

I. BACKGROUND

[¶3] "Viewed in the light most favorable to the State, the evidence admitted at trial establishes the following facts." State v. Graham , 2015 ME 35, ¶ 2, 113 A.3d 1102. Hallowell and the victim are distant relatives; Hallowell's great-grandmother is the victim's husband's grandmother. The victim and her husband live in Shirley, Maine, and house their animals in a barn located on land owned by Hallowell's great-grandmother. On July 8, 2019, after spending multiple days holed up in his bedroom, Hallowell decided to confront his relatives about what he believed to be their mistreatment of his great-grandmother.⁴ In the early hours of the morning, Hallowell packed multiple weapons into a "go-bag" and walked approximately ten minutes to the barn where his relatives kept their animals because he knew that they went to the barn every day to care for the animals. He entered the barn and spent multiple hours waiting for them to arrive. At one point while he was pacing inside the barn, he fed the horses hay because they became restless. At approximately 6:00 a.m., the victim arrived at the barn, entering through the grain room. As she went to feed the first animal, Hallowell "jumped up" and shot her in the hip with a handgun, knocking her to the ground. The victim had been unaware that Hallowell was inside the barn, and Hallowell did not say anything to the victim before shooting her.

[¶4] After being shot, the victim turned toward the sound of the gunshot and saw that Hallowell was holding a handgun and had a rifle strapped to his chest. Hallowell raised the handgun, and the victim got up and ran to a sliding door at the opposite end of the barn. After failing to open the door,⁵ the victim ran the length of the barn, past Hallowell as he fired at her, and left the barn through the grain room door she had entered through. Hallowell fired at least four more times as the victim tried to escape the barn, although no additional bullets hit the victim.

[¶5] Hallowell chased after the victim with the rifle when she exited the barn. Hallowell tased the victim and she eventually stumbled to the ground. While the victim was on the ground, Hallowell hit her on the head with his rifle. As the two struggled and wrestled with the weapon, the rifle broke. Several rounds of live ammunition fell on the ground, indicating that the rifle had been loaded. Hallowell spoke to the victim for the first time while they were wrestling over the rifle on the ground, stating: "I hate you for what you did to my grandmother." The victim pleaded with Hallowell to stop the attack.

[¶6] The victim was able to get away from Hallowell and ran toward the road. A pickup truck towing a trailer was traveling on the road in front of the property, and the victim was able to wave the truck down and get in. At that point, Hallowell had followed the victim down to the road and was running toward the truck with a handgun. The truck was unable to back up due to its trailer, so the driver sped past Hallowell with the victim lying on the floor of the rear seat. As the truck sped past him, Hallowell aimed at the truck and fired three shots, two of which hit the rim and tire on the rear passenger wheel of the truck. At some point after the pickup truck drove past him, Hallowell returned to his mother's house, spoke to his parents, gathered some items, and left in a vehicle.

[¶7] After law enforcement was notified of the incident, an alert was issued for Hallowell and the vehicle he was suspected to be traveling in. A Maine State Police lieutenant, who was patrolling in an unmarked cruiser, located the suspect vehicle in the town of Clinton. The lieutenant turned on his emergency lights and siren, but the vehicle did not stop. The lieutenant estimated that he pursued the vehicle at speeds up to ninety-five miles per hour over three and a half miles for a total duration of two and a half to three minutes. Eventually the vehicle failed to negotiate a left-hand turn and left the road, landing in a field. After the crash, the driver of the vehicle reported that he was uninjured, identified himself as Christopher Hallowell, complied with law enforcement directives, and allowed himself to be taken into custody.

[¶8] On July 9, 2019, the state charged Hallowell with various crimes in a twelve-count complaint. The court (Stitham , J. ) ordered a mental examination. Dr. April O'Grady conducted the initial evaluation, which included competency and criminal responsibility evaluations, on August 8, 2019, and filed her report with the court. During the evaluation, Hallowell reported that he had a "goal," and that even though he did not intend to hurt anyone, "he was prepared for violence." Hallowell also informed O'Grady that he could "absolutely see" that society would view his behavior as wrong but he "had decided to take justice into his own hands," that "he had considered that type of aggression for years," that "it took a lot for him to consider that type of aggression," and that he thought that if his relatives were "out of the picture, then they [could] not harm [his great-grandmother] anymore." O'Grady reported that in her professional opinion, Hallowell was in contact with reality during the time leading up to the incident in the barn and during his time in the barn.

[¶9] On March 2, 2020, the State filed a superseding indictment. Hallowell entered not guilty pleas on all twelve counts. Hallowell subsequently underwent additional mental health examinations. The court (Anderson, J. ) held a competency hearing on December 28, 2020, and found Hallowell incompetent to stand trial. Hallowell was examined again in 2021 and, following a second competency hearing on August 8, 2021, was found competent to stand trial. On August 20, 2021, Hallowell entered a plea of not criminally responsible by reason of insanity. The trial court held a bench trial on August 20 and 23, 2021.

[¶10] At trial, Hallowell raised the defense of mental abnormality, see 17-A M.R.S. § 38, and the affirmative defense of insanity, see 17-A M.R.S. § 39 (2022). In support of his defenses, Hallowell called Dr. Geoffrey Thorpe, who had evaluated Hallowell approximately two years after the incident. Thorpe testified that Hallowell had been diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, and various substance abuse disorders. Thorpe also testified that a possible nodule might have been found on Hallowell's thyroid gland, although whether the nodule actually existed or had any effect on Hallowell was unknown.

[¶11] Thorpe testified that Hallowell reported that he had lied to O'Grady during her evaluation and that he experienced delusions, hallucinations, and dissociated states of consciousness. Thorpe testified that Hallowell stated that he carried loaded firearms with him because "he felt the need to defend himself against snakes" in the area, that he injected a homemade concoction of drugs and alcohol before the incident in a suicide attempt, that he heard voices that told him to go to the barn, and that he believed that if he shot one of his relatives, he would be able to seek asylum in Germany. Thorpe also testified, however, that Hallowell subsequently reported that his hallucinations did not begin until he was incarcerated after the incident and that the thoughts Hallowell reported to him "sounded quite improbable and highly unlikely." Thorpe conducted testing of Hallowell and found that the validity of Hallowell's answers raised questions about possible overreporting of symptoms and that the results "could be interpreted but with caution."

[¶12] Ultimately, Thorpe opined that at the time of the crime, Hallowell was "impaired by mental disorders." Thorpe and O'Grady, who was called as a rebuttal witness, both testified that Hallowell might have been malingering when he was questioned about the inconsistencies in his reports to different evaluators as well as in his answers to testing. After a brief deliberation, the court found Hallowell guilty on eight of the charges.⁶

[¶13] In announcing its verdict from...