PORTLAND, Maine (AP) - A judge is set to hear arguments over claims that police beat a man accused of killing a Maine sheriff’s deputy.
Bangor Daily News reports lawyers for 29-year-old John Williams are claiming that police officer’s “brutal physical force” led to Williams appearing to confess to the April killing of Somerset County Sheriff’s deputy Cpl. Eugene Cole.
Maine Superior Court Deputy Chief Justice Robert Mullen this month scheduled a Feb. 28 hearing on the matter.
Williams pleaded not guilty in June. His lawyers in a court filing last month said opioid withdrawal effects and a fear of further violence led to his apparent confession after his arrest.
State prosecutors have not filed a response to such claims.
Williams is scheduled to be tried for the murder in June.
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