AUBURN – Brandon Thongsavanh’s last shot at freedom hinges on an appeal of his murder conviction after a judge ruled Wednesday there are no grounds for a new trial.

The 20-year-old Lewiston man was sentenced to serve 58 years in prison for the stabbing death of a Bates College student in March 2002.

But Thongsavanh’s lawyer argued last month the convicted murderer should be given a new trial based on fresh evidence about the slaying.

Attorney William Maselli said he had recently obtained a statement from a 20-year-old local woman who claims another man confessed to the stabbing of Bates senior Morgan McDuffee.

Maselli also said a different woman reported the alternative suspect had showed off a knife just weeks before the slaying.

The knife used to kill McDuffee was never recovered.

In his bid for a new trial, Maselli also claimed prosecutors presented evidence that jurors should not have seen. Among the evidence the lawyer deemed tainted was a mug shot of Thongsavanh with a shaved head revealing horn tattoos.

Maselli also argued that jurors should not have been allowed to view a videotaped interview in which police refer to Thongsavanh’s violent criminal history.

The lawyer’s motion for a new trial was considered by Superior Court Justice Ellen A. Gorman. She denied the motion based on several elements.

Gorman ruled that the man named as an alternative suspect in the killing was cleared by police when his clothing failed to show traces of McDuffee’s blood. Clothing Thongsavanh was wearing the night of the stabbing was never found.

Gorman also pointed out that Maselli’s new evidence came in the form of testimony from people who were not present during the brawl that led to the slaying. She added that physical evidence and eye-witness testimony led to Thongsavanh’s conviction at his trial in February.

“After weighing evidence, assessing the credibility of the witnesses presented at trial and assessing the credibility of those who testified in September,” Gorman wrote in her ruling, “the court is convinced that the defendant has failed to prove that the proffered testimony would probably lead to a different result in a new trial.”

Thongsavanh has one last chance for freedom.

After he was convicted in February, Maselli quickly filed an appeal. Gorman’s ruling this week paved the way for the lawyer to argue his case in the Maine Supreme Judicial Court.

Maselli has said that he plans to use the new testimony as his foundation for an appeal to the state’s highest court. That is expected to happen later this year or early next year.

mlaflamme@sunjournal.com

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