Courant.com

Lawyers for Richard Lapointe, who was convicted of killing his wife's 88-year-old grandmother in Manchester, have asked a court to vacate his conviction and grant him a new trial.

The lengthy civil petition filed Friday in Hartford Superior Court is the latest legal move in one of the state's most controversial murder convictions. Lapointe was convicted in 1992 of raping and killing Bernice Martin. He is serving a life sentence without the possibility of release.

Supervisory Assistant State's Attorney Michael O'Hare said Monday that his office is reviewing the petition and would file an appropriate response.

Central to the conviction were three statements Lapointe gave to investigators during a 9 1/2-hour interrogation in July 1989. The session ended with what police said was a confession but what the defense said was a coerced statement without defense lawyers present for Lapointe, who has a rare congenital brain malformation.

His lawyers have repeatedly requested the courts to review the case.

In 1996, the state Supreme Court upheld Lapointe's conviction and the U.S. Supreme Court declined to review it later that year. In 2000, a Hartford Superior Court judge dismissed a civil petition requesting a new trial. Earlier this year, the state Appellate Court upheld the trial court's ruling on the civil petition.

On Friday, Lapointe's lawyers filed a petition asking the court to vacate their client's conviction, grant him a new trial and release him from custody pending a retrial.

Lapointe's attorney, Paul Casteleiro of Hoboken, N.J., said among the petition's contentions is that the state suppressed evidence and the trial counsel was ineffective because there was a failure to investigate the case and corroborate the defendant's alibi. The petition also contends the lawyer representing Lapointe in his earlier request for a new trial was ineffective, he said.