Maine v. Kimball
Annotate this CaseBrown, a 95-year-old resident of North Yarmouth, lives on his farm and keeps bees. Karen helped Brown and also raised her own bees and harvested honey there. Brown's family was concerned about Karen’s influence over Brown and her inclusion in his will. Brown’s grandson called Karen to tell her that “things were going to change.” Karen became concerned about valuable harvested honey that she had stored at Brown’s farm. Brown’s family members and Karen and her husband, Merrill, met at the farm. Brown’s daughter called 9-1-1. Merrill and Kelley, Brown’s son-in-law, had a confrontation on the driveway. Merrill tried to push Kelley but stumbled backward, then pulled out a handgun and shot Kelley three times. Kelley died at the hospital from his wounds. Merrill was convicted of murder, 17-A M.R.S. 201(1)(A). The court sentenced Kimball to 25 years’ imprisonment. The Maine Supreme Judicial Court affirmed, rejecting arguments that the court erred in declining to give a jury instruction addressing the affirmative defense of adequate provocation; admitting evidence that Merrill had been drinking on the day at issue; and limiting evidence concerning the relationships between Kimball’s family members and the victim’s family members.
Some case metadata and case summaries were written with the help of AI, which can produce inaccuracies. You should read the full case before relying on it for legal research purposes.
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.