BANGOR – A Maine man serving a 16-year sentence is appealing his manslaughter conviction.
Fifty-three-year-old Ernest Weidul is serving time for the May 2010 death of 46-year-old Roger Downs Jr. in Portland. Downs died of injuries sustained in a fight after he and Weidul spent hours drinking brandy together after just meeting.
Additional Photos
In his appeal, Weidul is challenging a lower-court judge’s denial of his motion to suppress incriminating statements he made to police. He argues that he didn’t voluntarily waive his Miranda rights and that police engaged in deceptive practices by implying they were investigating him for a traffic violation when in fact they were seeking evidence related to a homicide.
The Maine Supreme Judicial Court is hearing his appeal on June 12 at the Penobscot Judicial Center in Bangor.
Send questions/comments to the editors.
Success. Please wait for the page to reload. If the page does not reload within 5 seconds, please refresh the page.
Enter your email and password to access comments.
Hi, to comment on stories you must . This profile is in addition to your subscription and website login.
Already have a commenting profile? .
Invalid username/password.
Please check your email to confirm and complete your registration.
Only subscribers are eligible to post comments. Please subscribe or login first for digital access. Here’s why.
Use the form below to reset your password. When you've submitted your account email, we will send an email with a reset code.