HOULTON, Maine — A Houlton man serving 65 years in Maine State Prison challenged his murder conviction in court on Friday.
Reginald J. Dobbins, 28, contends that several legal missteps leading to his 2017 murder conviction in the 2015 bludgeoning death of Keith Suitter violated his constitutional rights during police investigations and his eight-day trial.
Following Friday’s post-conviction evidentiary hearing in Aroostook County Superior Court, Dobbins called out to the press.
“I am an innocent man,” he said. “I appreciate you hearing me.”
This is the second time Dobbins has sought relief following his 2017 conviction.
His first attempt was unsuccessful, with Maine Supreme Judicial Court justices upholding the trial court’s judgement. Nonetheless, in their 2019 written decision, the justices affirmed that the lower court erred by excluding evidence that a co-defendant, 16-year-old Samuel Geary, had pleaded guilty to Suitter’s murder.
Despite the exclusion of evidence, the Law Court justices ruled that it was harmless given the other evidence against Dobbins.
According to court documents, Suitter was killed on March 1, 2015, in his mobile home. An autopsy revealed that the 61-year-old Houlton painter had died from blunt-trauma injuries and stab wounds that penetrated his lungs.
The 2017 trial revealed that Dobbins, who was 18 at the time of the murder, and Samuel Geary, 16, stopped at Suitter’s home, asking to use his phone. When Suitter turned his back to walk inside, he was hit in the back of his head with a hammer.
“The State’s theory of the case was not specific as to whether Dobbins was the principal or an accomplice to Geary and Dobbins’s defense was that Geary murdered the victim ‘while Dobbins stood by in shock,’” the Supreme Court justices wrote in their decision.
The jury found Dobbins guilty of Suitter’s murder and he was sentenced to 65 years in prison. Geary, who pleaded guilty to the murder, was sentenced to 40 years in prison.
In court on Friday, John Pelletier, Dobbins’ attorney, pointed to the Supreme Judicial Court decision and the exclusion of evidence.
The Law Court’s analysis about withholding Geary’s guilty plea violated Dobbins’ due process right to a fair trial, Pelletier said.
“Mr. Dobbins feels strongly that the jury should have heard that his co-defendant accepted responsibility for this crime,” Pelletier said. “It would have been a fact that would have supported his case and the arguments of counsel regarding his role in the homicide.”
Not providing the evidence during the trial and the Law Court’s failure to provide relief — after determining the trial court was wrong to not include the evidence — impinged on Dobbins’ constitutional right to a fair trial, Pelletier said.
Pelleter also argued that Dobbins received ineffective assistance from his two previous attorneys, Jeffrey Pickering and Hunter Tzovarras, who both also appeared in court on Friday via Zoom.
In one instance, Pelletier said that Pickering accompanied Dobbins to an interview with state police while Dobbins was heavily under the influence of drugs and alcohol and that Pickering should never have allowed the interview to proceed because he was impaired.
“Mr. Dobbins and Mr. Pickering voluntarily went to the barracks and a lengthy interview ensued at the end of which Mr. Dobbins was arrested,” Pelletier said. “Our claim is that Mr. Pickering, being aware of Mr. Dobbins’ state of mind, should not have authorized the state police to conduct the interview.”
Dobbins said in court that before his interview with state police, he had been drinking vodka all day as well as taking other illicit drugs. The vodka bottle and other drugs were visible to Pickering, he said.
On Friday, Pickering said that he did not notice Dobbins’ inebriation prior to the interview with police and he wanted the interview to proceed so he could learn more about what evidence the police had against Dobbins.
Additionally, Dobbins contends that despite asking to have the trial moved out of Houlton, Tzovarras said it would not make a difference. In court on Friday, Tzovarras said that was accurate.
Houlton is a small town, and Dobbins had a bad reputation even before the murder charge, Pelletier said.
“Nevertheless, the trial pursued in this small community where it’s beyond question that this matter had been widely known within the general community prior to the trial,” he said.
Assistant Attorney General Katie Sibley asked Dobbins in court on Friday if he believed the town was biased against him.
“Absolutely the town is biased against me,” he said, adding that before his arrest he was not able to get a job because of his reputation.
Pelletier and Sibley said they will present written closing arguments to the court.
Superior Court Justice Harold L. Stewart II said he would take the matter under advisement and make a written decision once he receives the closing arguments.
