The Maine Supreme Judicial Court has ruled against an appeal from Matthew W. Pendleton, who was convicted by a jury in Waldo County Superior Court for the manslaughter of Kevin Curit in 2024.

 Pendleton, 48, was convicted of causing the death of his one-time friend, Kevin Curit, 47, on Jan. 5, 2023 in Lincolnville. Curit was reportedly living with Pendleton at the time of the incident. 

On May 1, the Maine Supreme Court justices affirmed the conviction and the sentence, which includes six years in prison and four years of probation. Pendleton is currently serving his sentence in the Maine State Prison.

On appeal, Pendleton challenged the court’s admission of screenshots of text messages that he sent to his daughter around the time of the victim’s death; the admission of his daughter’s testimony about his alcohol use and their family dynamic; the court’s rulings allowing a jailhouse informant to testify and denying Pendleton’s motion for mistrial after the informant revealed in his testimony that Pendleton and he had met in jail; and the court’s refusal to consider in its sentencing analysis a juror’s affidavit purporting to describe the jury’s view of the evidence and the reasoning underlying the jury’s verdict.