Maine Supreme Court to decide appeal of post-conviction review for 2015 Augusta murder

BANGOR, Maine (WABI) - A New York man convicted of killing an Augusta man took his case for a post-conviction review (PCR) to Maine’s highest court Thursday.

Aubrey Armstrong, 35, was convicted of murder in 2018 for the death of Joseph Marceau in 2015. He was also convicted of robbery.

His initial sentence of 30 years was thrown out by the Maine Supreme Judicial Court in 2019 for violating the double jeopardy clause.

Armstrong was again sentenced to 30 years but that was also thrown out because of a technical issue.

In 2021, Armstrong was sentenced for a third time to 30 years.

In July of this year, the PCR court denied Armstrong’s request for a PCR because the deadline to file had passed.

On Thursday, the Maine Supreme Court heard Armstrong’s appeal of that decision.

Armstrong’s lawyer, Michelle R. King, argued that due to his lack of counsel, Armstrong should have been able to file this petition after its initial due date.

“This case, your Honor, is a complete mess,” said King in court. “Mr. Armstrong filed a petition on April 10, 2023. What happened thereafter has denied Mr. Armstrong the assistance of counsel to properly frame his post-conviction claims and has resulted in no meaningful review of any of those claims.” The State says, however, nowhere in his petition does Armstrong ask for this consideration, and there were no circumstances that prevented him from submitting the petition on time.

“PCR court committed no clear error by summarily dismissing Mr. Armstrong’s second petition for post conviction review,” retorted Asst. Attorney General Katie Sibley. “Title 15 Section 2128-B1 plainly states that there is a one year limitation period for filing a state petition for post conviction review.”

The justices will issue a decision at a later date.

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