BANGOR, Maine (WABI) – A New York man convicted of murdering an Augusta man took his case for post-conviction review (PCR) to Maine’s highest court on Thursday.

Aubrey Armstrong, 35, was convicted of murder in 2018 for the death of Joseph Marceau in 2015. He was also convicted of robbery.

His original 30-year sentence was overturned by the Maine Supreme Judicial Court in 2019 for violating the double jeopardy clause.

Armstrong was again sentenced to 30 years in prison, but that sentence was also overturned due to a technical problem.

In 2021, Armstrong was sentenced a third time to 30 years in prison.

In July of this year, the PCR court rejected Armstrong’s PCR application because the filing deadline had passed.

On Thursday, the Maine Supreme Court heard Armstrong’s appeal of that decision.

Armstrong’s attorney, Michelle R. King, argued that because of his lack of counsel, Armstrong should have been able to file this motion after the original due date.

“This case, Your Honor, is a complete mess,” King told the court. “Mr. Armstrong filed a motion on April 10, 2023. What happened subsequently deprived Mr. Armstrong of the assistance of counsel to properly formulate his post-conviction claims and did not give rise to no meaningful review of any of these claims.

The State asserts, however, that Armstrong nowhere in his motion requests this consideration, and that no circumstances prevented him from submitting the motion on time.

“The PCR court made no clear error in summarily denying Mr. Armstrong’s second motion for post-conviction review,” countered Asst. Attorney General Katie Sibley. “Title 15, Section 2128-B1, makes it clear that there is a one-year statute of limitations for filing a petition with the State for post-conviction review.”

The judges will make their decision later.

Copyright 2024 WABI. All rights reserved.