AUBURN — A Lewiston man charged with murder in his pregnant ex-girlfriend’s hit-and-run death wants to represent himself in court.
Evaristo Antonio De Deus, 33, of 37 Union St., filed a motion in court seeking the withdrawal of his attorney, Justin Leary, so that he can represent himself as his case goes forward.
Leary filed the motion earlier this month, saying that his client wished to proceed “pro se.” Leary wrote that he felt his relationship with Deus is “such that he can no longer effectively represent him.”
A hearing on the motion is scheduled for Monday, along with a conference with the judge and prosecutors to assess the status of the case. It is expected to go to trial in the spring.
In September, Deus sent two handwritten letters to the clerk of Androscoggin County Superior Court, requesting that he be allowed to represent himself. He also asked that an interpreter continue to translate English to French for him.
On Oct. 30, Deus sent a similar letter to the judge assigned to his case, seeking to “fire” his current lawyer, Leary.
Attorneys familiar with such requests say the judge is unlikely to allow a defendant facing a murder charge to represent himself. An alternative attorney could be assigned to handle his case or possibly be assigned as “stand-by” counsel, available to assist the defendant should he want or need help as the case proceeds through trial.
Police said Deus intentionally struck from behind with his Suzuki SUV Laudrinha Kubeloso, 32, of 78 College St., Lewiston, while she was walking on Howe Street in Lewiston on Sept. 23, 2014. She was four months pregnant.
Authorities captured Deus in New York 10 minutes before his flight was due to depart JFK airport for Haiti. Police later recovered Deus’ vehicle in a parking lot at the University of New England in Portland, its license plates missing and its front passenger side damaged.
He has been held without bail since.
According to a police affidavit, an eyewitness to the murder said he was on the second-floor balcony of his home at 127 Howe St. at 3 p.m. when he heard a “loud thud.” He looked down the street and saw a blue SUV hit a woman, “run her over and continue driving.” That witness said the driver was a black man wearing a blue shirt.
A second witness told police he was on the second-floor balcony of the same building, smoking a cigarette, when he heard what sounded like a vehicle running over an empty box. He looked in that direction to see a dark blue SUV driving over an object that appeared to be a woman lying motionless in the street. That witness also said the driver was a black man wearing a blue shirt.
Police recovered the passenger side of the headlight framing of the vehicle, which matched the make, model and color of the vehicle registered to Deus.
Police learned from Wal-Mart in Auburn, where Deus worked, that he had clocked out of work at 1:32 p.m. that day. He was seen leaving the parking lot at 2:04 p.m., wearing a blue shirt and driving his dark blue Suzuki Grand Vitara SUV. At 3:01 p.m., his vehicle is seen on surveillance cameras turning onto Howe Street.
Kubeloso, who was from Angola, had been a volunteer at Hope House on College Street in Lewiston and had been enrolled in adult education classes. She had sought asylum in the U.S. seven months earlier.
Deus had been living in Lewiston for less than a year, most recently on Union Street.
According to the police report, the couple had been dating for about four months, but had had domestic problems for months. They had split up and had barely spoken for three weeks before Kubeloso’s death.
The court ordered a mental examination for Deus by state psychologists into his mental state at the time that the victim was killed in an effort to determine whether he was criminally responsible for her death, according to state law.
cwilliams@sunjournal.com
Send questions/comments to the editors.
