ALFRED — The defense attorney for Kandee Weyland Collind, the Acton woman who in August pleaded guilty to murdering her ex- husband in February 2017, told a York County Superior Court Justice that her client should be able to withdraw the plea and proceed to trial.

“It was evident she regretted her guilty plea immediately,” attorney Molly Butler Bailey told Justice Wayne Douglas on Monday.

Collind, 48, pleaded guilty on Aug. 27, 2018, to stabbing to death her former husband Scott Weyland, 43, in the driveway of his Acton home on  Feb. 22,  2017. Their two young children were with her at the time.

Four days after she entered the guilty plea, Collind called Bailey, leaving a message she wanted to withdraw the plea. She told Bailey she hadn’t taken her medication on the morning of the plea hearing,  and there were some elements of the murder charge she didn’t understand. She was unable to meet with Bailey until Sept. 19. A further meeting with the attorney on Oct. 15 resulted in Collind reiterating her request, according to documents on file with the court.

Douglas pointed out that the filing of the motion to withdraw came on Oct. 26, about two months after Collind had entered her guilty plea.

Bailey said her client struggles with the “intentional and knowing” portion of the murder charge.

“She’s told me several times she’s guilty but not guilty,” Bailey told Justice Douglas on Monday. “There’s no question that she caused the death of Scott Weyland. … (but) her intellectual capabilities are not that high.”

Assistant Attorney General Meg Elam pointed out that during the hearing where Collind pleaded guilty, Collind was “very animated,” that she didn’t agree with some of the information Elam had presented, and had, thorough her attorney, asked for corrections.

“She was fully engaged” with the process, Elam noted.

A clinical psychologist testifying for the defense told the court on Monday that not taking her medication on the morning she entered her guilty plea could have affected Collind’s  thinking.

Psychologist Richard Doiron testified that Collind had a neuropsychological disorder due to a brain injury, along with depression, anxiety and post traumatic stress disorder for which she had been prescribed several medications. He said he didn’t believe Collind had thought out the answers she gave to questions at the plea hearing.

He testified that a failure to take medication could have affected her ability to think clearly.

While Collind claims she didn’t take her medication that day, logs kept by Correctional Health Partners, the company that provides medical services at York County Jail shows the medication was dispensed, according to testimony by the company’s health care administrator Mary Shane.

“I think (the psychologist) is greatly underestimating her capacity,” said Elam of Collind.  The assistant attorney general pointed out that granting Collind’s motion to withdraw her plea and proceed to trial has a potential impact on vulnerable victims.

“The children had been informed they wouldn’t have to testify,” said Elam, “I hope this will be denied and they won’t  have to testify against their mother.”

Elam said transcripts of telephone conversations Collind had with her mother and others — which are to be submitted to the court — will show she told them she thought she’d get “less time” through a trial.

“It was clearly a knowing and voluntary plea,” said Elam.

The agreement that had been worked out as a result of Collind’s guilty plea called for a capped sentence of 32 years. The minimum sentence for murder is 25 years.

Court affidavits show Collind told York County Sheriff’s Office deputies that on Feb. 22, 2017, the couple’s children were in the car with her when she pulled into her ex-husband’s driveway and crashed into a pick-up truck parked there and that she and Weyland had a confrontation.

Collind had recently learned that her ex-husband had been awarded custody of the children.

One of the children called 911 at 12:55 p.m. that day, according to the affidavit, and said Collind had stabbed Weyland in the chest.

When deputies arrived, they found Collind administering CPR to her former husband outside on the ground. She was crying hysterically, and allegedly told deputies she had stabbed him in the chest, and that he had pulled out a knife as well.

An autopsy revealed Weyland, 43, died of a stab wound to the chest, with penetration of the heart.

Deputy Attorney General Lisa Marchese told Justice Douglas that Collind should be aware that she goes to trial and is convicted, the state would ask for “substantially” more prison time, “in the area of decades more,” said Marchese at a December hearing.

Transcripts of the telephone conversations are to be submitted to the judge by June 24.

There was  no indication when a decision would likely be forthcoming.

— Senior Staff Writer Tammy Wells can be contacted at 780-9016 or twells@journaltribune.com.