BANGOR, Maine — A Superior Court judge has denied a new trial for a man convicted of killing three people and setting their bodies ablaze nearly three years ago in what police said was a drug deal gone bad.
Justice William Anderson said that Nicholas Sexton’s attorney, Jeffrey Toothaker of Ellsworth, was wrong to refer indirectly to co-defendant Randall Daluz’s African-American race in his closing argument to the jury. Anderson, who issued his order Wednesday, also concluded that the error was not so egregious that Daluz deserved a new trial.
Now that Anderson has ruled on the motion, sentencing dates for Daluz and Sexton are expected to be set. Sexton, 34, of Warwick, Rhode Island, did not seek a new trial.
Both were convicted of murder and arson on May 28, 2014, after a monthlong trial at the Penobscot Judicial Center in Bangor.
Daluz, 37, of Brockton, Massachusetts, sought a new trial on the grounds that Toothaker’s statements in his closing prejudiced the jury against Daluz.
Anderson heard oral arguments on the motion in April.
“[Toothaker’s] closing arguments asked the jury to place themselves in Mr. Daluz’s shoes and suggested at least twice that Mr. Daluz could not explain the events of Aug. 12-13, 2012,” Daluz’s attorney, Hunter Tzovarras of Bangor, wrote in the motion. “These comments impinged on Mr. Daluz’s right to remain silent and contrasted his silence to Mr. Sexton’s testimony. In addition, [Sexton’s attorney] made comments in his closing argument that Mr. Daluz was the more likely defendant to carry a firearm because he was a minority and that he came from a dangerous neighborhood.”
Anderson rejected that argument in his 17-page decision.
“Although it was implied that a person would not need to be armed when in the presence of members of his or her race, counsel did not argue that Daluz would likely be armed when around people of other races,” the judge wrote. “This is an attenuated inference and does not have the effect of insinuating that Mr. Daluz must have shot the victims because his racial minority is inclined to do so.”
Tzovarras said the judge’s decision would be appealed to the Maine Supreme Judicial Court after his client is sentenced.
“He’s glad the court recognized Sexton’s closing argument referencing race and the made up ‘dangerous friends from Brockton’ was plain error,” Tzovarras said Wednesday in an email. “[Daluz] disagrees with the court’s ultimate conclusion that these errors did not deprive him of a fair trial. Bringing race into the equation, especially on the key issue of who possessed the murder weapon, denied him a fair trial and affected the integrity of the process. He maintains his innocence and is hopeful the appellate court will grant a new trial.”
Deputy Attorney General Lisa Marchese, who prosecuted the case with Assistant Attorney General Deb Cashman, said Thursday in an email that the state was pleased with Anderson’s decision.
“We look forward to the sentencings as it has been a long wait for the victims’ families to be heard,” Marchese said.
Efforts on Thursday to reach Toothaker were unsuccessful.
The Penobscot County jury found Daluz guilty May 28, 2014, on three counts of murder and one count of arson after a monthlong trial. After deliberating for nearly 45 hours over five days, jurors found Sexton guilty of the murder of Nicolle Lugdon and of arson, but they could not reach a verdict on the murder counts in connection with the deaths of Daniel Borders and Lucas Tuscano.
The charred bodies of Lugdon, 24, of Eddington, Borders, 26, of Hermon and Tuscano, 28, of Bradford were found in a burning rental car Aug. 13, 2012, at 22 Target Industrial Circle in Bangor. They had been shot to death, and the car they were in was set on fire to destroy evidence, according to testimony.
Sexton took the stand May 19, 2014, and said Daluz shot Borders accidentally but killed Tuscano and then Lugdon intentionally. Sexton said that Daluz forced him to set the car on fire and threatened to kill him and his children if he went to the police.
Daluz did not take the stand. He told police that Sexton shot all three people.
Sentencing dates for Sexton and Daluz have not been set. Both men face between 25 years and life in prison.