PLEASE NOTE: Legislative Information cannot perform research, provide legal advice, or interpret Maine law. For legal assistance, please contact a qualified attorney.
An Act Regarding Criminal Procedure with Respect to Allowable Defenses
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:
Sec. 1. 17-A MRSA §38, as enacted by PL 1981, c. 324, §14, is amended by adding at the end a new paragraph to read:
An actor does not suffer from an abnormal condition of the mind based solely on the discovery of, knowledge about or potential disclosure of the victim's actual or perceived gender, gender identity, gender expression or sexual orientation, including under circumstances in which the victim made an unwanted nonforcible romantic or sexual advance toward the actor or in which the actor and victim dated or had a romantic or sexual relationship.
Sec. 2.  17-A MRSA §108, sub-§3  is enacted to read:
 
3.      A person is not justified in using force against another based solely on the discovery of, knowledge about or potential disclosure of the victim's actual or perceived gender, gender identity, gender expression or sexual orientation, including under circumstances in which the victim made an unwanted nonforcible romantic or sexual advance toward the person or in which the person and victim dated or had a romantic or sexual relationship.
Sec. 3. 17-A MRSA §201, sub-§4, as amended by PL 2001, c. 383, §8 and affected by §156, is further amended to read:
 
4.    For purposes of subsection 3, provocation is adequate if:
 
A. It is not induced by the person; and
 
B. It is reasonable for the person to react to the provocation with extreme anger or extreme fear, provided that evidence demonstrating only that the person has a tendency towards extreme anger or extreme fear is not sufficient, in and of itself, to establish the reasonableness of the person's reaction.
 
For purposes of determining whether extreme anger or extreme fear was brought about by adequate provocation, the provocation was not adequate if it resulted solely from the discovery of, knowledge about or potential disclosure of the victim's actual or perceived gender, gender identity, gender expression or sexual orientation, including under circumstances in which the victim made an unwanted nonforcible romantic or sexual advance toward the person or in which the person and victim dated or had a romantic or sexual relationship.
 
Effective 90 days following adjournment of the 129th Legislature, First Regular Session, unless otherwise indicated.