Maine man appeals conviction for killing girlfriend with his car at Acadia

A Portland man is appealing his murder conviction in the June 2022 hit-and-run killing of his girlfriend in Acadia National Park, the Portland Press Herald reported . Raymond Lester, 37, was found guilty in November, 2023, of killing Nicole Mokeme during a June 2022 retreat for Black people at the Schoodic Institute in Acadia National Park. Lester, who was dating Mokeme, 35, of South Portland, ran her over a few minutes before midnight on June 18, 2022, with his car and then fled to Mexico, where he turned himself in a few weeks later, according to police.

A jury found that Lester had intentionally run down Mokeme . He was sentenced to 48 years in prison. According to the Press Herald, Lester’s attorney told the Maine Supreme Judicial Court on Wednesday that the jury was not told that Lester’s intoxication could have led to an interpretation that he had acted recklessly instead of intentionally, which might have warranted a lesser charge of manslaughter instead of murder.



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