BELFAST — Maine’s supreme court has upheld the 45-year prison sentence for a man who robbed and kidnapped an elderly woman before slashing her throat and leaving her for dead in 2009.
Stanley Ward of Belfast contended his lengthy prison sentence amounted to cruel or unusual punishment, that the judge erred in imposing consecutive sentences and that the judge’s fact-finding used to support consecutive sentences violated his constitutional right to a trial by jury.
The Maine Supreme Judicial Court rejected all of his contentions.
Ward pleaded guilty in April 2010 to robbery, kidnapping and attempted murder for the attack on a 72-year-old woman. Police say he forced Patricia Moss to write a check to him for $300 before attacking her and leaving her to die. She regained consciousness and called for help.
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