I'm Richard Stahursky and I was given a life sentence for killing a sex offender at the Maine State Prison in 2014. My out date is December 31st 9999. Yes you read that right 9999 years. The victim's name was Mr. Micah Boland and he had been convicted of sexually assaulting a 4 year old girl and had been sentenced to 22 years. I'm asking to either be RESENTENCED to 30 years with time served or to be eligible for PAROLE because I believe a life sentence is an injustice. I DIDN'T mean to kill Mr. Boland, what happened was the result of me blacking out because of the trauma I've been subjected to. I regret what I did and if I could go back I wouldn't do that again. This is my story. I was originally given a federal and state sentences of 28 years in 2002 for a robbery of a store I DIDN'T DO. I went to the store with a guy who didn't tell me he was going to rob the store but he did and although I was innocent I was convicted because I was there. I couldn't afford a lawyer and the public defender I was given gave me poor representation so I was forced to take a plea deal. I've been incarcerated for 21 years and I've been in solitary confinement for 19 years in and out. Immediately prior to the incident in 2014 I was released into general population after 6 and a half years straight in solitary confinement without any help in transitioning to general population and I felt very anxious after being in isolation for so long. I was placed in a pod with sex offenders despite repeatedly warning prison officials that I didn't want to be housed with sex offenders and would be violent if housed with them. I asked the Maine state prison to rather take me back to solitary confinement rather than be in a pod with sex offenders but they kept me there. My sister was sexually molested as a child by our stepfather and I found out later after my sister died in 2003. This discovery coupled with my sister's death in 2003 of cancer at 25 years old exacerbated my sentiment for sex offenders. My sister was like a mother to me, she raised me and she was my everything. Our stepfather would beat me, my sister and my mother on a daily basis even when he wasn't drunk. He was also a drug addict who on Christmas kicked me and my sister out of the house in our pajamas and sold our Christmas gifts to get drugs. At 12 years old I got kicked out of the house which lead to me having to fend for myself on the streets. I had to learn how to be man at 12 years old around violence that a 12 year old boy shouldn't have to deal with. I have two children two boys who I've seen grow up in pictures because I couldn't be there for them and I want to make it up to them. On 10 december 2015 I was sentenced to life for the murder of Mr. Boland. The 2015 case is state. My public defender at that time Philip Cohen TOLD ME to plead guilty and that he was going to appeal the sentence to get me a reduced sentence. I didn't want to plead guilty I was about to go to trial but I listened to my public defender Philip Cohen. After years of trying to reach out to my public defender Philip Cohen asking about the appeal I found out that the public defender didn't file an appeal and that he died in 2020 but nobody had informed me not even Philip Cohen's law firm. This is the article of the public defender's passing https://www.penbaypilot.com/article/philip-s-cohen...

I contacted the court asking what to do but the court told me they couldn't tell me what other motions or stuff to file after I tried to put in a prose appeal. The victim's family sued the prison for violating the eighth amendment of the constitution for failing to protect Mr. Micah Boland because they didn't prevent this. I didn't mean to kill Mr. Boland, I blacked out. The Boland's family won the lawsuit. My public defender Philip Cohen at the time he was representing me he was suspended from practicing for 30 days after violating his conditions, Cohen had been previously charged with domestic violence against a woman the article is https://www.noethics.net/News/index.php?option=com...

The loss of my sister and solitary confinement have hugely affected me and are one of the biggest factors in my case. My mother died in 2013. After my sister died in 2003 I spiralled down into a selfdestructive path because she was my everything. After my sister died I started getting in trouble in prison because I felt like I had nothing to fight for and I assaulted some sex offenders because of what happened to my sister. I was so crushed that I felt like I had nothing to be good for, to behave for because my sister had died, my kids were so young they we're there for me. I was just existing as a zombie. I know my prison record isn't great but that's because I kept getting in trouble because I thought I had nothing to fight for. I'm not justifying anything I've done and I know I made mistakes but I'm only giving context into what caused my behavior. The ARTICLES the media has published about my case and my previous record DON'T tell the truth, they don't explain the reasons that caused me to be that way. I found hope when I got together with my fiancee in 2021 because she gave me hope. In 2014 when I was charged with the murder I didn't have my fiancee, my kids were so young they weren't there and my niece wasn't in my life back then because she was just a baby. If I had known my fiancee in 2014 I wouldn't have committed the offense I was convicted of. In solitary confinement I have been diagnosed with borderline personality disorder, obsessive compulsive disorder, dissociative disorder, impulsive control disorder, antisocial personality disorder and mood disorders and I've self harmed I've cut my arms many times because of the emotional pain I was in. I'm a man who for 19 years has been in a cell as tiny as a bathroom 23 hours a day, left to myself without help. How can they expect me to conduct myself as a human being when I'm treated like an animal. Now I have the love I needed back then, my kids are adults now and are in my life, my niece is in my life now and I've completed programs with certificates and I've gotten my high school diploma. I want to participate in more programs but they don't allow me to. I don't know how to file motions and deal with the court. I want to work and provide for my family. I want to be a man. I want to be the husband my soon to be wife, the dad my kids and the uncle my niece deserve. I'm asking everyone to please sign this petition to either get me resentenced or make me eligible for Parole. Maine is trying to bring back parole with a bill. My goal is to present this petition to the Maine court or the maine parole board to show them that I have your signatures. Sign and share this petition please.

Note please don't send any donations to this website because the donations don't go to me since the website keeps the money for themselves.

Respectfully,

Richard Stahursky