Name: Adam Edward harland Flanders 
Database last updated on: 10/30/2018: http://sor.informe.org/cgi-bin/sor/step3.pl?id=6036
1 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT DISTRICT OF MAINE ADAM E ... www.med.uscourts.gov/.../2013/MJK_03262013_2-12cv278_Flanders_v_Maine.pdf Mar 26, 2013 - . Petitioner Adam Flanders pleaded guilty in January 2008 to several crimes
1 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT DISTRICT OF MAINE ADAM E. FLANDERS , ) ) Petitioner, ) ) v. ) 2:12 - cv - 00277 - JAW ) 2:12 - cv - 00278 - JAW STATE OF MAINE, ) ) Respondent ) RECOMMENDED DECISION ON 28 U.S.C. § 2254 PETITION S Petitioner Adam Flanders pleaded guilty in January 2008 to several crim es in Knox County Superior Court, including aggravated assault , tampering with a victim , and violation s of conditions of release. In August 2008, he pleaded guilty in Ma ine District Court in Belfast to sexual abuse of a minor and violation of conditions of release and admitted a probation violation in Knox County Superior Court based on the same conduct .
2 to represent him on his federal habeas petitions. The doc ket entries reflect that the same retained counsel also entered an appearance in state court prior to the state evidentiary hearing on the state post - conviction petitions . 1. T he Assault Incident ( Knox County ) The underlying Knox County crimes arose out of an assault that involved Flanders and two victims, one of whom was a boy age 1 6 at the time of the crimes. (State Court Record §§ A.1 at 1; D.3, Vol. II at 64.) The other victim in that incident was the boy’s father. The assault took place in February 2007 at the home of the boy, his father, and his stepmother ; the stepmother was at home but was not assaulted . (State Court Record §§ A.1 at 1; D.4 at 6.) Flanders testified that he had been in a relationship with the boy since 2005 when Fla nders was eighteen or nineteen years old and the boy was fifteen. (State Court Record § D.3, Vol. II at 64 - 66.) Prior to the events at issue in this post - conviction, Flanders had pleaded guilty to assaulting the boy in 2006; sentencing apparently was def erred but Flanders was under a court order of no contact with the boy. (State Court Record § D.3, Vol. I I at 64 - 66.) In addition, the boy’s stepmother had obtained an order of protection from harassment prohibiting Flanders from having contact with the b oy. (State Court Record § § D.3, Vol. II at 66; D.4 at 6.) The conviction for tampering with a victim concerned the same boy as was involved in the February 2007 assault. (Stat e Court Record § D.4 at 11 - 12.)...
Flanders’s self - defense theory is that the boy and his father lured Flanders to their house as a setup to get Flanders arrested, and Flanders responded in self - defense to the father’s aggressive behavior. (State Court Record § D.4 at 5, 7.)
T he post - conviction court did not find meaningfu l factual support in any of the recorded statements for a claim of self - defense by Flanders . (State Court Record § D.... 4 at 6.)
Flanders testified that he discussed a theory of self - defense with counsel but that he decided to plead guilty because he was concerned about a prison sentence on the charge of tampering and because he thought he might be prosecuted―unfairly b ecause he felt he was innocent― for having child pornography on his computer . (State Court Record § D.3, Vol. II at 29, 39.)
In the recorded interview of Flanders concerning the assault incident, Flanders told the investigator that the boy asked him to sneak into the boy’s residence so the two could have sex. (State Court Record § D.4 at 6.) Flanders told the investigator that he parked his car where it could not be seen, and he took a knife to use in se lf - defense. (State Court Record § D.4 at 6.) The boy let Flanders into the house, and he went to the boy’s room. The boy then thought that his stepmother may have seen Flanders, and he told Flanders to go out through a window and hide on a roof. (State Court Record § D.4 at 6.) The boy went downstairs, returned, and told Flanders to come back into his room. (State Court Record § D.4 at 6.) Flanders did so and 4 started taking off his clothes. (State Court Record § D.4 at 6.) The father then called th e boy downstairs. (State Court Record § D.4 at 6.) Flanders hid in a closet in the boy’s room. (State Court Record § D.4 at 6.) The father entered the boy’s room and was not carrying a weapon. (State Court Record § D.4 at 6.) Flanders swung his knife toward the father and cut him. (State Court Record § § D.3, Vol. II at 68; D.4 at 6.) Flanders told the investigator that he did this because he was afraid of the father and was acting in self - defense. (State Court Record § D.4 at 6.) The boy was also cut during the incident, and although Flanders told the investigator that he did not cause that injury, at the hearing on the post - conviction, Flanders admitted that he did cut the boy with the knife. (State Court Record § § D.3, Vol. II at 67; D.4 at 6.) Flanders testified that he injured the father “much more seriously” than the boy, although the boy sustained several cuts. (State Court Record § D.3, Vol. II at 67 - 68.) ...
the boy stated that when the violence began, Flanders took him from behind and held the knife near the boy’s throat; (2) the father was watching the situation and threatened to intervene if Flanders escalated the threat to the boy; and (3) the boy said that Flanders stabbed him at least once before the father approached Flanders. (State Court Record § D.4 at 8 n.3.) ...
In March 2007, Flanders sent a letter to the boy after Flanders had been charged with crimes based on the assault incident at the boy’s home. (State Court Record § § B.1 at 1; D.4 at 11.) Flanders wrote the letter while he was being held on pretrial bail set in the assault case . (State Court Record § D.4 at 11.) In the letter, Flanders asked the boy to exculpate him from criminal liability by falsely stating that the bo y’s injuries were self - inflicted rather than caused by Flanders. (State Court Record § D.4 at 11.) Flanders asked the boy to use a “last opportunity,” stating that it “essentially involves you changing your statement.” (State Court Record § D.4 at 11.)
The Waldo County charge of sexual abuse of a minor arose out of an incident in June 2008 with a different victim than the boy involved in the assault incident . (State Court Record §§ C.1 at 1; D.3, Vol. I at 115.)
