PORTLAND – A severely brain-damaged man convicted of raping an elderly woman and slashing her throat must serve his 40-year sentence, the state’s highest court ruled Wednesday.
The Maine Supreme Judicial Court upheld the lower court’s sentence, saying the judge did not abuse her discretion when she decided not to suspend any portion of the sentence. The top court also ruled that the sentence was not excessive.
Kerry Gray raped his 76-year-old Livermore Falls neighbor at knife point and slit her throat in 2003. He then set her house on fire, according to court records.
His lawyer had argued that Androscoggin County Superior Court Justice Ellen Gorman should have considered his client’s head injuries when she sentenced him.
Gray, 42, suffered several head traumas, including one from a car accident in 1985. Following the accident, he lingered in a coma for a month.
He underwent psychological testing after he was indicted on charges of attempted murder, gross sexual assault and arson.
He was judged competent to stand trial and pleaded guilty to the charges. Another charge was dropped and prosecutors agreed not to seek consecutive sentences.
An expert witness for the state testified at Gray’s sentencing hearing that he told her he had cut his victim’s telephone lines and started the fire to create a diversion. Those actions showed he was able to control his impulses, she said.
Gray had called a psychologist to the stand, who argued he would be better served by an alternative correctional program specially designed for brain-injured people.
Justice Gorman rejected that notion, saying that program would not be able to protect the public from Gray.
She calculated Gray’s sentence for the sexual assault at 35 years, given the nature of the rape. He dragged the woman upstairs, beat her and repeatedly sexually assaulted her, records showed. Aggravating factors boosted the sentence an additional five years.
Gray’s lawyer argued that the defendant’s brain injuries should result in a shorter sentence.
But Gorman said: “Mr. Gray’s deficits, although tragic, do not explain his behavior,” records showed. She also cited prior convictions for sex-related crimes.
Because Gray had been put on probation in the past “without success” and there were no rehabilitation services from which he would benefit, Gorman said he was not a candidate for a suspended sentence.
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