ROCKLAND, Maine — A 71-year-old former Camden man sentenced to 10 years in prison last month for trying to kill his wife by pushing her off Maiden Cliff in April 2011 has appealed his conviction.
Charles Black also has asked the Maine Supreme Judicial Court to review the sentence imposed on him Sept. 25 by Justice Joyce Wheeler.
When asked what would be the basis for the appeal, defense attorney Walter McKee said, “We will be reviewing the entire record and assessing various rulings before and during the trial to determine the strongest points to raise.”
Paperwork also was filed in Knox County Superior Court asking that Black be found to be indigent. He has asked for a transcript of the trial and sentencing to be provided to him at no cost.
Justice Wheeler sentenced Black to 25 years in prison with all but 10 years suspended and placed him on probation for six years for attempted murder, elevated aggravated assault and assault.
District Attorney Geoffrey Rushlau had asked that Black get 27 to 29 years with all but 15 years suspended.
Rushlau argued at last month’s sentencing hearing that Black was self-absorbed and self-indulgent. He pointed out how Black struck his now ex-wife Lisa Zahn in the back of the head three times with a rock, then dragged her to the edge of the 800-foot Maiden Cliff and pushed her off on April 7, 2011.
Evidence produced at the trial showed that Black reconnected in 2010 with his former high school girlfriend, whom he had not seen in 50 years, and that the two were having an affair. Testimony also showed that Zahn had inherited $4 million in 2010, and that Black had been spending some of that money without her knowledge.
Justice Wheeler had said this was a difficult case in that she heard so many good things about Black, but that the crime he committed was insidious and dangerous. She said that if the victim had not become caught up on a ledge when she was pushed, this would have been a much more serious case.