AUGUSTA (AP) — A Tenants Harbor man serving 45 years in prison for killing his drug supplier has appealed his murder conviction to Maine’s highest court.
WABI-TV reports that a lawyer for 42-year-old Andrew Kierstead told the Supreme Judicial Court on Tuesday that statements Keirstead made to police after the shooting of 48-year-old Richard Mills of Cushing in September 2012 were not made voluntarily because Keirstead was intoxicated and highly emotional.
The lawyer also said the 45-year sentence was excessive.
Prosecutors disputed the defense’s contentions.
The court did not immediately rule.
Prosecutors say Kierstead told them he shot Mills because Mills had hooked him on drugs but then cut him off for not paying a $250 drug debt.
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