Aaron S. Lowden

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Charge:	Drug Related (Possession or sale)
Sentence:	7 years
Years Imprisoned:	0.83
Year Crime:	2012
Year Convicted:	2013
Year Cleared:	2014
U.S. State or Country of Crime:	Maine
County or Region of Crime:	York
City of Crime:	Lebanon
Result:	Judicially Exonerated Released
Summary of Case:	"Aaron S. Lowden was wrongly convicted on April 26, 2013 of unlawfully trafficking in methamphetamine. Lowden was arrested on January 14, 2012 when his landlady called the police and said she smelled something unusual coming from the basement of her house in Lebanon, Maine where Lowden rented a room. The police officer who responded went downstairs where Lowden showed him he was heating a container of liquid on a Coleman stove. Additional officers were called and the house was searched. Although various chemicals were found, they were incomplete to manufacture methamphetamine, and no methamphetamine was found in the house. Lowden was indicted on drug charges on June 5, 2012 of "aggravated trafficking of scheduled drugs -- namely methamphetamine. After his conviction by the jury Lowden's lawyer filed a post-verdict motion for a judgment of acquittal "on the grounds that no reasonable jury could have concluded, based on the evidence presented at trial, that he unlawfully trafficked in methamphetamine." The judge denied the motion, and sentenced Lowden to 7 years imprisonment. Lowsen appealed on the basis the trial judge erred in denying his motion for a judgment of acquittal. On February 25, 2014 the Maine Supreme Judicial Court set-aside Aaron Lowden's conviction and ordered his acquittal on the basis the trial judge erred by denying Lowden's motion for a judgment of acquittal. The Court ruled "he evidence does not support the trafficking conviction, we must remand for the entry of a judgment of acquittal. With his retrial barred by double-jeopardy, Lowden was released later in the day on February 25."
Conviction Caused By:	"The trial judge erred in denying Lowsen's motion for a judgment of acquittal based on the prosecution's failure to introduce sufficient evidence he "unlawfully trafficked in methamphetamine."
Innocence Proved By:	"On February 25, 2014 the Maine Supreme Judicial Court set-aside Aaron Lowden's conviction and ordered his acquittal on the basis the trial judge erred by denying Lowden's motion for a judgment of acquittal. Lowden was released later on February 25."
Defendant Aided By:
Compensation Awarded:
Was Perpetrator Identified?
Age When Imprisoned:	41
Age When Released:	43
Sex:	Male
Skin/Ethnicity:
Information Source 1:	"State of Maine v. Aaron S. Lowden, 2014 ME 20 (ME Sup. Jud. Ct., 2-25-2014)"
Information Location 1:	http://www.courts.state.me.us/opinions_orders/supreme/lawcourt/2014/14me29lo.pdf
Information Source 2:	"DEA busts suspected drug-making lab in Lebanon home, By Associated Press, Bangor Daily News (Bangor, ME), January 15, 2012"
Information Location 2:	https://bangordailynews.com/2012/01/15/news/portland/more-than-50-drug-enforcement-officers-emergency-workers-descend-on-lebanon-home/
Information Source 3:	"Maine high court throws out accused drug dealer’s conviction because he didn’t successfully create meth, By Seth Koenig (Staff writer), Bangor Daily News (Bangor, ME), February 25, 2014"
Information Location 3:	http://bangordailynews.com/2014/02/25/news/portland/maine-high-court-throws-out-accused-drug-dealers-conviction-because-he-didnt-successfully-create-meth/?ref=search
Information Source 4:	"Substance found in makeshift drug lab in Lebanon still unidentified, By Laurenne Ramsdell (Foster's Daily Democrat writer), Bangor Daily News (Bangor, ME), July 27, 2012"
Information Location 4:	http://bangordailynews.com/2012/01/27/news/portland/substance-found-in-makeshift-drug-lab-in-lebanon-still-unidentified/?ref=search
Information Source 5:
Information Location 5:
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Aaron S. Lowden

Charge:

Drug Related (Possession or sale)

Sentence:

7 years

Years Imprisoned:

0.83

Year Crime:

2012

Year Convicted:

2013

Year Cleared:

2014

U.S. State or Country of Crime:

Maine

County or Region of Crime:

York

City of Crime:

Lebanon

Result:

Judicially Exonerated Released

Summary of Case:

Conviction Caused By:

"The trial judge erred in denying Lowsen's motion for a judgment of acquittal based on the prosecution's failure to introduce sufficient evidence he "unlawfully trafficked in methamphetamine."

Innocence Proved By:

"On February 25, 2014 the Maine Supreme Judicial Court set-aside Aaron Lowden's conviction and ordered his acquittal on the basis the trial judge erred by denying Lowden's motion for a judgment of acquittal. Lowden was released later on February 25."

Defendant Aided By:

Compensation Awarded:

Was Perpetrator Identified?

Age When Imprisoned:

41

Age When Released:

43

Sex:

Male

Skin/Ethnicity:

Information Source 1:

"State of Maine v. Aaron S. Lowden, 2014 ME 20 (ME Sup. Jud. Ct., 2-25-2014)"

Information Location 1:

http://www.courts.state.me.us/opinions_orders/supreme/lawcourt/2014/14me29lo.pdf

Information Source 2:

"DEA busts suspected drug-making lab in Lebanon home, By Associated Press, Bangor Daily News (Bangor, ME), January 15, 2012"

Information Location 2:

https://bangordailynews.com/2012/01/15/news/portland/more-than-50-drug-enforcement-officers-emergency-workers-descend-on-lebanon-home/

Information Source 3:

"Maine high court throws out accused drug dealer’s conviction because he didn’t successfully create meth, By Seth Koenig (Staff writer), Bangor Daily News (Bangor, ME), February 25, 2014"

Information Location 3:

http://bangordailynews.com/2014/02/25/news/portland/maine-high-court-throws-out-accused-drug-dealers-conviction-because-he-didnt-successfully-create-meth/?ref=search

Information Source 4:

"Substance found in makeshift drug lab in Lebanon still unidentified, By Laurenne Ramsdell (Foster's Daily Democrat writer), Bangor Daily News (Bangor, ME), July 27, 2012"

Information Location 4:

http://bangordailynews.com/2012/01/27/news/portland/substance-found-in-makeshift-drug-lab-in-lebanon-still-unidentified/?ref=search

Information Source 5:

Information Location 5:

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