Attorneys representing a 22-year-old Androscoggin County man who allegedly shot a man twice in the back at an Auburn Walmart parking lot in 2019 say that a Maine State Police crime analyst’s testimony would be redundant, according to the Sun Journal.
Defense lawyers have filed a motion seeking to block Sgt. Scott Bryant from testifying at the trial, saying that others who actually developed the evidence he would speak to could testify themselves during the trial of Gage Dalphonse. Prosecutors say that Bryant qualifies as an expert in crime scene reconstruction and should be allowed to testify, the Sun Journal reported.
Dalphonse, 22, of Auburn, was charged with murder after the death of Jean Fournier, 41, of Turner. Police said Dalphonse shot Fournier twice in the back following an argument in the parking lot of a Walmart in Auburn on the night of July 27.
Prosecutors said the two men had bad blood between them. Dalphonse told police that he fired in self-defense, after Fournier allegedly threatened him, punched him and reached into his car. Police were called to the store shortly before 7 p.m. that night and found Fournier lying on his back unconscious. He was later pronounced dead at Central Maine Medical Center in Lewiston, according to a police affidavit.
Androscoggin County Superior Court Justice William Stokes took the defense claim under advisement and will rule at a later time, the Sun Journal reported.