ALFRED — Jason Twardus, convicted in October of killing his former fiancée, Kelly Gorham, in 2007, is requesting access to the medical records of Gorham’s former landlord in connection with his request for a new trial.

Gorham’s former landlord, Nancy Durfee, appeared at a hearing at York County Superior Court on the medical records motion Friday morning. Her attorney, David J. Bobrow, argued that the information gleaned by doctors at York Hospital Oct. 13 should not be released to Twardus’ lawyers. At the same time, her husband John Durfee was in a second floor courtroom awaiting arraignment on a charge of eluding an officer in York on Oct. 13.

Both Nancy and John Durfee were called as witnesses in Twardus’ murder trial. Twardus was convicted by a jury Oct. 1 of killing Gorham, but his attorneys, Daniel Lilley and Darrick Banda, claim there is new evidence and that their client should be afforded a new trial. During the murder trial, Lilley had advanced John Durfee as an alternate suspect.

Nancy Durfee was taken to York Hospital on Oct. 13, after she was found unconscious on the side of the road in Eliot. A car registered to her was allegedly observed leaving the scene. Soon thereafter, police in York saw a vehicle that matched the description and attempted to pull it over but it sped away and led police on a chase.

Police broke off the chase in Dover, N.H. because of traffic congestion. Police allege John Durfee was driving; Nancy Durfee in November told reporters a homeless man whom she was allowing to drive her car to York County Shelters in Alfred was behind the wheel. She said she became nervous about allowing the homeless man to drive and asked him to pull over and let her out. She said she must have tripped and fallen.

John Durfee pled innocent to the eluding charge, and his bail was modified to reflect that he is not to possess or use illegal drugs and is subject to random testing and searching of his home, vehicle and person.

At the murder trial, Nancy Durfee testified a quilt found in the grave where Gorham’s remains were found ”“ on land owned by Twardus’ father in northern New Hampshire ”“ had come from the bed in Gorham’s apartment on the Durfee property.

Banda, outside the courtroom before Friday’s medical records hearing, said it was important that his client have access to the records.

“She’s the only person to positively identify the quilt,” said Banda.

York County Superior Court Justice G. Arthur Brennan explained the purpose of the hearing was to determine whether limited access of Nancy Durfee’s medical records to Twardus should be permitted. He pointed out that if access is granted, that doesn’t mean the information would be admissible. Brennan noted Assistant District Attorney Justina McGettigan’s opposition to the release. McGettigan is the prosecutor in the John Durfee eluding case.

Banda, noting both the presence of McGettigan and Assistant Attorney General Lisa Marchese in the courtroom, said the state was acting as though the district attorney and the attorney general are two separate entities ”“ he claims they’re not. He said the Attorney General’s Office has not taken a position on the medical records issue.

“Jason Twardus is a criminal defendant in a suit adverse to the state and the state has the information,” Banda argued. He asserted that McGettigan’s opposition based on the Maine Criminal History Information Act doesn’t apply because the request is not from a third party.

“I think why this is getting so confused is that everyone is treating (the state) as two different entities,” said Banda.

McGettigan said from the district attorney’s point of view, Twardus is a third party to the state’s case against John Durfee.

“(Twardus is) not a part of that case,” said McGettigan. “To follow (Banda’s) argument, any criminal defendant could look at any other criminal defendant’s discovery.”

Bobrow, Nancy Durfee’s lawyer, said the request for his client’s medical records doesn’t meet exceptions to confidentiality rules.

Justice Brennan said he would rule on the matter Monday or Tuesday.

A hearing on the request for a new trial was originally scheduled for Feb. 17, but is postponed until March 10.

Twardus’ request for a new trial alleges three new pieces of evidence: An anonymous call that allegedly includes a potentially incriminating statement made by John Durfee’s former son-in-law; a conversation a citizen allegedly had with John Durfee after Gorham disappeared from her home but before her remains were found; and the Oct. 13 incident in Eliot.

— Staff Writer Tammy Wells can be contacted at 324-4444 or twells@journaltribune.com.