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State v. Nugent
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MAINE SUPREME JUDICIAL COURT Reporter of Decisions
Decision: 2002 ME 111
Docket: Pis-01-713
Submitted
on Briefs: June 27, 2002
Decided: July 10, 2002
Panel: SAUFLEY, C.J., and CLIFFORD, RUDMAN, DANA, ALEXANDER, CALKINS, and
LEVY, JJ.
STATE OF MAINE
v.
JOSEPH J. NUGENT III
ALEXANDER, J.
[¶1] Joseph J. Nugent III appeals from a judgment by the District Court
(Dover-Foxcroft, Stitham, J.) finding him to have committed the traffic infraction
of speeding fifty miles per hour in a twenty-five mile-per-hour zone. See 29-A
M.R.S.A. § 2074 (1996 & Supp. 2001). Nugent asserts that (1) he was not
allowed to make a statement to the court but instead was required to proceed by
questions and answers, and (2) he was improperly deprived of his right to a jury
trial. We affirm.
[¶2] No transcript or statement in lieu of a transcript of the court hearing
has been provided. See M.R. App. P. 5(b)(2), (d), (f). Thus, it is impossible to
assess the validity of Nugent's first point of appeal. When the record on appeal
does not include a transcript of the proceedings below, we must assume that the
transcript would support the trial court's findings of fact and its rulings on
evidence and procedure. Putnam v. Albee, 1999 ME 44, ¶ 10, 726 A.2d 217,
220.
[¶3] Nugent's second point on appeal, that he had a right to a jury trial in
this speeding infraction case, is resolved by our ruling in State v. Anton, 463 A.2d
703 (Me. 1983). In Anton a right to a jury trial in a speeding infraction case was
asserted, based on the Maine Constitution. We held that (1) "traffic infraction
proceedings are not |