A judge in a Portland murder case is weighing a request to exclude one of the government’s key witnesses from testifying because on the day of the fatal shooting in 2014 the witness had smoked crack cocaine repeatedly, had not taken his medication for schizophrenia and was possibly delusional.

The witness, Michael Deblois, is the only eyewitness to come forward to police about the close-range shooting of 23-year-old Richard Lobor on Nov. 21, 2014, inside Deblois’ apartment at 214 Brighton Ave. Other men were in the apartment when Lobor was shot in the leg and head, but only Deblois has been cooperative.

Abdirahman Huessin Haji-Hassan looks at his defense attorney Clifford Strike. Whitney Hayward / Staff Photographer

Richard Lobor, Portland’s only homicide victim of 2014, was shot on Nov. 21 at a Brighton Avenue apartment. 2014 Press Herald file photo

Attorneys for the man accused of Lobor’s murder, 25-year-old Abdirahman Huessin Haji-Hassan, argued in Cumberland County Courthouse in Portland on Thursday that Deblois should be deemed incompetent as a witness and that he should not be allowed to testify at Haji-Hassan’s trial in May.

Defense attorney Molly Butler Bailey argued that, in a recording of a police interview with him on the day of and after the murder, Deblois appeared to be speaking to people who weren’t in the room with him.

“This is one of the major witnesses for the state, and if the court rules that he had no ability to perceive, that would change the trajectory of the case significantly,” Butler Bailey said. “His state of mind was not one that would allow him to perceive what was going on that night.”

Butler Bailey said that Deblois, who has severe mental illness, had been high on crack cocaine before the murder, during the murder and while calling 911 to report the murder. She said Deblois was talking to people who were not present, suggesting delusion or hallucination, while he was being interviewed by Portland police afterward.

Justice Thomas Warren made no immediate ruling, but made remarks suggesting he was considering letting a jury at trial decide for themselves whether Deblois was a credible witness.

“Questioning ability to perceive, that goes to the jury, doesn’t it?” Warren asked Butler Bailey.

A prosecutor in the case, Assistant Attorney General Leane Zainea, argued that Deblois’ statements to police were able to be corroborated.

“I cannot think of any other criminal case in any court that has required a witness to undergo a psychological evaluation,” Zainea said.

Zainea said Deblois told police of a shooting in his apartment, and police found a shooting victim there. He told police that the victim had been shot in the leg and head, which was confirmed by the autopsy. He identified a shooting suspect whose fingerprints were found at the scene.

“He demonstrates a reasonable ability to communucate what is around him,” Zainea said.

Another of Haji-Hassan’s lawyers, Clifford Strike, revealed during the hearing that the fingerprint of another man, Gang Deng Majok, who is charged in a different Portland murder, was also found at Deblois’ apartment.

Majok, 31, of Portland, is charged with murder for a shooting last May 25 at Da Block Studios at 371 Fore St. in Portland that killed 19-year-old Treyjon Arsenault and seriously injured 21-year-old Mohamed Ali of Portland.

Strike raised the detail about Majok while questioning Portland police Detective Richard Vogel about a lineup of six photos, including one of Haji-Hassan, that was shown to Deblois to see if he could identify Lobor’s killer.

Strike argues in a motion that the photo array should be barred as evidence on grounds it is “impermissably suggestive,” since only two of the photos show men with dreadlocks several inches long, as Haji-Hassan wore at the time.

Deblois, 45, knew the men in his apartment only by their nicknames, “Fresh,” “Dreads,” “New York” and “Jordan.” Police subsequently identified Fresh as Lobor, Jordan as Haji-Hassan and Dreads as 29-year-old Mohamed Ashkir, according to an affidavit filed with the court by Portland police Detective Maryann Bailey.

Police have not publicly identified the man known as New York, but Strike’s statement in court suggests that man could be Majok. Strike declined to comment further about the connection after Thursday’s court hearing.

Deblois told police on the day of the murder that he came into the living room while Haji-Hassan and Ashkir were arguing in a foreign language as Haji-Hassan was pointing a silver .357-caliber revolver at Ashkir, according to the affidavit.

“Jordan was moving the revolver up and down and counting. He was telling Dreads to leave the apartment,” Bailey wrote. “Fresh moved in between Dreads and Jordan to mediate the situation.”

Police in Minnesota arrested Haji-Hassan in Minneapolis on Dec. 19, 2014, and he has been held in custody since. He has pleaded not guilty to a charge of willful and intentional murder, which is punishable by 25 years to life in prison.

Jury selection for Haji-Hassan’s trial is scheduled to begin May 27.

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