The man who pleaded guilty last December to killing another man in 2022 has asked a Maine judge to toss his plea and grant him a new trial.
Friday’s hearing before Superior Court Justice MaryGay Kennedy came on the second anniversary of the slaying of 43-year-old Derald Coffin of West Bath, according to the Portland Press Herald.
James Howaneic, who is representing 24-year-old Damion Butterfield, told Kennedy that his client felt pressured to plead guilty after learning that the jury could find him guilty as an accomplice despite state prosecutors arguing he was the shooter, the Press Herald reported.
Howaneic said that undermined Butterfield’s defense that he was taking the fall for his older former co-defendants, according to the newspaper.
Butterfield was one of four men charged with the murder of Coffin and the attempted murder of 29-year-old Annabelle Harnett in April 2022.
Coffin was sitting in a parked vehicle on Woodford Street about 1 a.m. April 26, 2022, when he was approached by a group of people. An argument ensued, and Coffin and Harnett were shot.
The three other defendants, Thomas MacDonald, Jonathan Geisinger and Anthony Osborne, were initially charged with felony murder for their role in setting up the alleged plot to rob Coffin and Hartnett.
Days after the shooting, one of the defendants, MacDonald, entered the Westbrook Police Department, saying he wanted to confess to murder and told police Butterfield was the one who shot Coffin.
MacDonald, 45, testified against Butterfield and awaits sentencing for hindering apprehension. Osborne, 46, is serving eight years for robbery. Geisinger awaits trial on a felony murder charge, according to the Press Herald.
In December, Butterfield entered a guilty plea to murder, aggravated attempted murder, robbery and possessing a firearm as a prohibited person at the last minute just before the jury could deliver its verdict.
While prosecutors had largely argued that Butterfield was the gunman, they pressed the judge to instruct the jury on “accomplice liability theory.” Despite showing skepticism about the need for those instructions, Kennedy ruled the evening before closing arguments that the jury would be instructed on the theory, which Howaneic has said left him no time to challenge that theory.
No alternative shooter was proposed, but Howaneic told the court Friday if it was up to him, Butterfield would point to Geisinger as the shooter, according to the Press Herald.
Under Maine law, Butterfield can withdraw his guilty plea because he has not been sentenced.
But prosecutors on Friday argued that Butterfield has made numerous admissions of guilt in text messages and calls made from prison, and so the judge should reject his request to toss his eleventh-hour plea and get a new trial, according to the Press Herald.
In exchange for a 35-year sentence, Butterfield’s plea included waiving his right to appeal, the newspaper reported.
Kennedy didn’t issue a ruling Friday, and it’s unclear when she may issue a decision.
