ROCKLAND — A Liberty man sentenced to 40 years in prison for his part in the New Year’s Day 1989 shotgun slaying of Randall Lind, 31, of Washington, will have an opportunity to appeal his sentence.

Knox County Superior Court reported Tuesday that a Sentence Review Board of three Supreme Court Justices has granted permission to Gerald Rolerson, 32, to have his sentence reviewed.

A similar request from Joseph Bowman, 28, of Liberty had previously been denied. Bowman, the man established as the trigger man in the slaying, was sentenced to 60 years in prison.

During sentencing of the two men, state prosecutor Jeffrey Hjelm said the murder had been a carefully planned retribution after Lind reportedly provided narcotics information to police. Both men denied the shooting had been premeditated.

Two other persons subsequently pleaded guilty to manslaughter in connection with the shooting. David M. Turner, 32, of Portland was sentenced to nine years with all but three years suspended, and Charles Novisky, 30, of Washington was sentenced to four years and six months with all but one year and six months suspended.

There were no reasons listed in court documents for granting Rolerson permission to have his sentence appeal heard by the review board.