Opinion ID: 1990867
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Vantol's Confession

Text: [¶ 33] Vantol's confession was known to Cookson during the trial and is not newly discovered evidence. For tactical reasons, Cookson and his attorneys decided not to disclose the confession during trial or call Vantol to testify. A confession by an alternative suspect known to the defense at the time of trial is not newly discovered evidence. McDonough, 350 A.2d at 560. Thus, Cookson has failed to demonstrate by clear and convincing evidence that Vantol's confession was newly discovered. [¶ 34] Even if the confession was newly discovered, Cookson did not show clearly and convincingly that it would have changed the outcome of the trial. The motion court found that Vantol's confession was not credible. This finding is supported by the evidence of the versions of the confession that Vantol made to the defense team and to the police; Vantol's visits to Cookson in jail and the timing of those visits; Vantol's recantation; and his mental and psychological characteristics. Furthermore, the version of Vantol's confession that he gave to the police implicated Cookson in a murder for hire scheme, which, as the trial court noted at Cookson's sentencing, would have made Cookson guilty of murder and supported a life sentence. See State v. Shortsleeves, 580 A.2d 145, 149 (Me.1990) (holding that an aggravating circumstance that justifies a life sentence is a planned, deliberate killing including a killing for hire).