AUBURN – Two men accused of kidnapping and murdering an 82-year-old man last March will be tried separately unless state prosecutors agree to leave out certain evidence.
A Superior Court judge has ruled that David Lakin and Shaun Tuttle can be tried together before the same jury under one condition: The Maine Attorney General’s Office must agree not to present statements the two men made to police, blaming each other for the killing of James McManus.
“In the interests of judicial economy, it is the court’s position that preference be given to joint trials, but not at the expense of the rights of the defendants,” Justice Thomas E. Delahanty II wrote in his ruling.
A former salesman who lived on Blake Street in Lewiston, McManus was found dead in the trunk of his Buick on March 11.
Tuttle, 21, and Lakin, 22, were each charged with one count of murder and one count of kidnapping after being interviewed by police.
According to court documents, they each claimed during separate interviews with police to have been passed out inside the car while the other beat and strangled McManus, then ran over his head with his own car.
The incident occurred after the men drove with McManus to a remote road in Turner, police said.
Police found McManus’ body the next morning after Tuttle called 911 to report that it could be found in the trunk of a car parked on Horton Street in Lewiston.
Both men have been in jail since their arrests on March 11.
The state had planned to try them together, claiming that one trial would save time and money.
But defense attorneys for both men filed motions asking for two trials. The attorneys argued that separate trials would be the only way to ensure fairness, given the fact that the suspects were pointing the finger at each other.
One trial could rob the defendants of a chance to confront or cross-examine the other about the statements they each made to police, since both men would have the right not to take the stand.
The state offered to “sanitize” the statements by taking out any reference to the other defendant by name or any reference that would identify the third person at the scene as the other defendant.
But Justice Delahanty decided that tactic was too risky.
He gives the state three options in his ruling: one trial without the statements, two trials with different juries or one trial with two juries.
If the state selects the third option, the two juries would sit together to hear evidence applicable to both defendants. Then each jury would leave the courtroom when it came time for the state to present evidence that only pertained to the other defendant.
Delahanty gave the state until Feb. 1 to decide. Assistant Attorney General Lisa Marchese said Tuesday that she and Assistant Attorney General Fern LaRochelle, who is prosecuting the case with her, hadn’t decided what they would do.
If they choose one trial, it would begin March 14. If they opt for two, one would begin March 14 and the other would be scheduled for a later date.
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