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MAINE SUPREME JUDICIAL COURT Reporter of Decisions
Decision: 2005 ME 84
Docket: Lin-04-694
Submitted
On Briefs: June 2, 2005
Decided: June 29, 2005
Panel: SAUFLEY, C.J., and CLIFFORD, RUDMAN, DANA, ALEXANDER, CALKINS, and LEVY, JJ.
STATE OF MAINE
v.
ADAM P. MILLER
DANA, J.
[¶1] Adam P. Miller appeals from a sentence of four years, all but nine months suspended, imposed by the Superior Court (Lincoln County, Humphrey, C.J.) following a judgment entered after a jury convicted Miller of importation of heroin (Class C), pursuant to 17-A M.R.S.A. § 1118 (Supp. 2004). Miller argues that his sentence violated the Sixth Amendment of the United States Constitution because the court, and not a jury, determined that he had been involved in additional trips to Massachusetts for the purpose of obtaining heroin and bringing it to Maine. We affirm the sentence.
I. BACKGROUND
[¶2] In January 2004, a grand jury indicted Miller on two drug-related counts: (1) importation of heroin (Class C), 17-A M.R.S.A. § 1118; and (2) trafficking in heroin (Class B), 17-A M.R.S.A. § 1103 (Supp. 2004). The indictment charged that Miller intentionally brought heroin into the state on or about November 18, 2003. Miller entered a plea of not guilty to the charges.
[¶3] At Miller's jury trial, the State called several law enforcement officers. They testified that Miller, his girlfriend Tammy Ames, and his sister Tanya Miller were known heroin addicts. When Waldoboro police officers spotted the three driving south on the morning of November 18, 2003, they believed the trio was driving to Massachusetts to purchase drugs. Officers from the Lincoln County Sheriff's Office obtained a search warrant for Tanya's residence, which they executed after the suspects returned to the residence that evening. During the search, detectives reported finding a substance resembling heroin, spoons, firearms, marijuana, and other drug paraphernalia.
[¶4] Lincoln County Detective Sergeant Kenneth Hatch testified that he interviewed Miller following the search. Hatch testified that Miller told him the group had driven to Fairhaven, Massachusetts, where Tanya purchased a gram of heroin. Hatch also testified that Miller said his sister was traveling to Massachusetts two or three times a week to buy heroin, and that Miller accompanied her on some, but not all, of those trips.
[¶5] After the State rested its case, Miller testified that the purpose of the trip to Massachusetts on November 18 was to visit his sister's fianc