AUBURN — A Lewiston man pleaded guilty to one count of elevated aggravated assault Thursday in an agreement that caps his prison sentence at 10 years for stabbing a man in Lewiston last June.

In the law library of the Androscoggin County Courthouse on Thursday morning, Raikuez Melchoirre, 35, entered an Alford plea, which allowed him to assert his innocence while acknowledging the state had enough evidence to convince a jury of his guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.

Melchoirre has been jailed on $7,000 cash bail since his arrest in June 2011. He faces a maximum of 10 years in jail.

At his sentencing hearing later this spring prosecutors will ask for a five-year sentence but Melchoirre is expected to argue for less time based on his belief that he was acting in self-defense when he stabbed Richard “Buddy” Edwards Jr. last year.

Had Melchoirre been found guilty at a trial, he could have been sentenced to 30 years in jail and fined $50,000.

Melchoirre originally requested a jury trial, which was scheduled to begin Thursday morning. However, he decided late Wednesday to accept the plea deal.

On Thursday morning, after consulting with his attorney, George Hess, he  changed his mind and asked to proceed to trial.

Based on his decision Wednesday to plead guilty, the trial jury had been told not to report for duty, which forced discussion between Hess and Assistant District Attorney Andrew Matulis to reschedule the trial for May.

Edwards, who was in the law library during these discussions, voiced his frustration with the delay.

Turning to several friends and family members sitting with him, Edwards said, “I got stabbed 51 times and he can’t do five years in jail?”

After nearly an hour and multiple chamber discussions among Hess, Matulis and Justice Robert W. Clifford, Melchoirre agreed to enter a guilty plea after learning that if he went to trial in May prosecutors were prepared to withdraw the plea offer and make no further offers to reduce his sentence.

After Melchoirre agreed to the deal, Matulis presented the evidence he had gathered for conviction on the felony charge.

According to Matulis, Edwards arrived at a beer pong party at a friend’s third-floor apartment at 73 College St. at around 9 p.m. June 19.

Matulis said Melchoirre arrived there around midnight. Some time later, Edwards went to the first floor where he felt something poured on his head from one of the upper floors. He went back to the apartment and asked who poured what he believed to be beer on him, and started arguing with Melchoirre.

The argument, which included racial slurs against Melchoirre who is black, led to Edwards “bumping” into Melchoirre and punching him multiple times as Melchoirre fought back.

Matulis said witnesses were prepared to testify that Edwards “got the better” of Melchoirre.

The two men had never met before the party.

The witnesses broke up the fight and Melchoirre left the party while Edwards returned to what Matulis called the “beer pong room.”

Several witnesses were prepared to testify, Matulis said, that 10 or 15 minutes later Melchoirre returned to the party and he and Edwards started arguing again, so party host Josh Ruiz asked the two men to “take it outside.”

They started pushing each other as they descended the stairs, Matulis said, and Edwards lost his balance and fell. Edwards thought Melchoirre was punching him until he felt “the bones on his hand being cut and he realized he was being stabbed,” Matulis said.

Edwards was prepared to testify that he stopped punching Melchoirre at this point, but Melchoirre continued stabbing him with a 6-inch buck-style knife while several witnesses tried to stop him.

Ruiz ran upstairs, Matulis said, grabbed a baseball bat and came back and hit Melchoirre over the head, stunning him. Ruiz and several of Edwards’ friends escorted Melchoirre outside, guarding him with the bat and a cinder block while others treated Edwards’ wounds until police arrived.

Matulis told the court Lewiston Sgt. Trevor Campbell was prepared to testify that, when he got to the scene just before 2 a.m., witnesses pointed Melchoirre out as the attacker.

Melchoirre was on his knees and, according to Matulis, told police “he felt he had to stop Buddy,” in self-defense and showed police where he had thrown the knife.

Matulis also said that Melchoirre expressed regret for his actions to police, and “didn’t mean to cause that much harm to Buddy,” but felt threatened by Edwards.

Edwards was taken by ambulance to Central Maine Medical Center, where he underwent emergency surgery. He was hospitalized for another week, and had two additional surgeries over the next two months to repair damage to his intestines.

According to Matulis, Edwards has lost the feeling in three of his fingers, and has a permanent injury to a knee, causing a slight limp and preventing him from running or playing basketball.

Hess disagreed with the state’s case, saying Edwards “put my client’s life in jeopardy, leaving him no choice but to defend himself.”

Melchoirre, who stared at the floor during Matulis’ presentation, nodded in agreement with Hess but acknowledged to Justice Clifford that he believed there was a solid chance a jury would find him guilty at trial, based on the state’s evidence.

In addition to the 10-year sentence, with all but five years suspended, the prosecution is seeking four years’ probation with the condition that Melchoirre submit to anger and violence evaluation and that he be banned from possessing dangerous weapons or consuming alcohol.

At the sentencing hearing, in arguing for a lesser sentence, Melchoirre will be permitted to make an argument that he felt threatened by Edwards. Edwards will also be permitted to address the court.

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