SKOWHEGAN (AP) – A man charged with burning down two buildings in Norridgewock wants his confession thrown out of court, saying he was goaded into making the statement after he asked for legal representation.
Scott Violette, 29, made the request Thursday through his lawyer. He is charged with setting a fire that burned down buildings containing three businesses on Aug. 30, 2003.
The Norridgewock man remained in Somerset County Jail on $20,000 cash bail.
Violette’s attorney, Janet Mills, told Somerset County Superior Court Justice Joseph Jabar that state police used Violette’s girlfriend to persuade him to confess after police stopped questioning him when he asked for a lawyer.
But investigators said they never meant for the girlfriend, Jamie Richardson of Norridgewock, to get her boyfriend to confess.
Maine State Police Detective Troy Gardner said he only asked Richardson for any information she had about the crime.
Richardson said she had been led to believe by investigators that Violette would receive only fines and probation if he admitted setting the fire. She said she told Violette that he needed to confess to police. He reluctantly agreed.
Jabar asked both sides to submit summaries of their cases by Sept. 17.
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