A Maine judge won’t toss a man’s guilty plea to murder and grant him a new trial.
In a decision dated May 6, Superior Court Justice MaryGay Kennedy rejected arguments that 24-year-old Damion Butterfield 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, according to the Portland Press Herald.
Butterfield was one of four men charged with the murder of 43-year-old Derald Coffin of West Bath 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 and no date has been set, the Press Herald reported. The monthly homicide report compiled by the Maine attorney general’s office lists a tentative trial date of August 2025.
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 Butterfield’s attorney, James Howaneic, argued left him no time to challenge that theory.
Butterfield filed a motion earlier this year to withdraw that guilty plea and ask for a new trial.
Under Maine law, Butterfield could withdraw his guilty plea because he had not been sentenced.
In an appearance in court on that motion in April, on the second anniversary of Coffin’s death, Howaneic argued that Butterfield was taking the fall for his older former co-defendants, though Butterfield declined to identify an alternative shooter, according to the Press Herald.
But prosecutors argued late last month that Butterfield has made numerous admissions of guilt in text messages and calls made from prison, pointing to that as grounds for Kennedy to reject his request to toss his eleventh-hour plea and get a new trial.
Kennedy defended her decision to have the jury instructed on accomplice liability theory, saying that Butterfield’s defense wasn’t caught off guard and had time to prepare to counter the prosecution’s arguments, according to the Press Herald. She added that her instructions were “complete, accurate and not irredeemably confusing.”
Kennedy argued that Butterfield made an “informed and considered decision” to plead guilty as part of a deal with prosecutors and had ample opportunity to consider his options with his attorney, the Press Herald reported.
In exchange for a 35-year sentence, Butterfield’s plea included waiving his right to appeal.
Butterfield was scheduled to be sentenced on June 13, according to the newspaper.
