AUGUSTA (AP) — An attorney for an Augusta man convicted of killing his girlfriend is seeking a new trial.
A jury in March found 41-year-old Justin Pillsbury guilty in the 2013 stabbing death of 24-year-old old Jillian Jones in an Augusta apartment.
Prosecutors say Pillsbury stabbed Jones a dozen times in a jealous rage during an alcohol-fueled fight over her communication with another man.
The Kennebec Journal reported (http://bit.ly/1X1wVjM ) Pillsbury’s attorney, Stephen Smith, filed a motion on Thursday seeking a new trial.
Smith alleges that the prosecutor’s description of Pillsbury as a “green-eyed monster” had racial connotations that prejudiced the jury. He says the prosecutor’s words appealed to the jurors’ “subliminal prejudices and fears.”
Prosecutors say the state denies there were any racial overtones in the comment.
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