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Convicted Baltimore killer’s defense-of-mom claim draws appeals court’s scorn
A Maryland appeals court has upheld the voluntary manslaughter conviction of a Baltimore drug dealer in an opinion overflowing with disbelief at his argument that he killed a competitor to defend himself and the life of his mother.
Md. high court faults jury instruction in ‘battered spouse’ case
Delving into the issue of domestic violence, Maryland’s top court has ruled that abuse in prior relationships can be evidence of Battered Spouse Syndrome without its victims having to first show they were repeatedly abused by the significant other they killed and for which they stand trial. The Court of Appeals rendered its decision in […]
Md. high court weighs jury instruction in ‘battered spouse’ case
Delving into the issue of domestic violence, Maryland’s top court Thursday grappled with whether a judge properly instructed a jury to determine first if a woman suffered from Battered Spouse Syndrome before deciding if she killed her boyfriend in self-defense. Defense attorney James Kirkpatrick told the Court of Appeals that the Wicomico County Circuit Court […]
Court reverses conviction, cites flawed battered-spouse instruction
Delving into the issue of deadly domestic violence, Maryland’s second-highest court ruled Friday that judges have the duty to decide whether to admit into evidence instances of past abuse that indicate defendants may have suffered from Battered Spouse Syndrome when claiming they killed their significant other in self-defense. Jurors can then consider that evidence of […]
Md. high court breaks from other states in battered-spouse ruling
Maryland’s top court knew it was going where no state supreme court had gone before in ruling that a battered spouse who hires a hit man to kill her husband can claim imperfect self-defense, which, if successful, could turn what would be a murder conviction into a case of manslaughter. In its 4-3 decision Monday, […]
Divided Md. high court overturns battered wife’s murder conviction
A sharply divided Maryland high court on Monday split along gender lines in overturning the first-degree murder conviction and life sentence of a woman who hired a man to kill a husband she said physically, verbally and psychologically abused her for more than 25 years. In its 4-3 decision, the Court of Appeals said Karla […]
Divided Md. court affirms battered wife’s murder conviction
A divided Maryland appeals court has upheld the first-degree murder conviction and life sentence of a woman who hired a man to kill her husband, who she said had physically, verbally and psychologically abused her for more than 25 years.
Trial ordered in death of man found in burning car
The attorney representing a Maryland man charged in the shooting death of a man whose body was found in a burned-out car in south-central Pennsylvania says his client maintains that he acted in self-defense.
Judge allows school records in Zimmerman trial
SANFORD, Fla. — Prosecutors on Wednesday presented evidence about George Zimmerman’s work in a college criminal justice course, which they say shows the neighborhood watch volunteer knew about Florida’s self-defense law and had aspirations of becoming a police officer. Zimmerman had maintained in an interview with Fox News last year that he did not know […]
All-women jury chosen for George Zimmerman’s trial
SANFORD, Fla. — A jury of six women, five of them white and the other a minority, was picked Thursday to decide the second-degree murder trial of George Zimmerman, a neighborhood watch volunteer who says he shot an unarmed black teenager, Trayvon Martin, in self-defense. Prosecutors have said Zimmerman, 29, racially profiled the 17-year-old Martin […]
Judge deciding neighborhood-watch beating case
The fates of two brothers charged with beating a black teenager while patrolling for a Jewish neighborhood watch are in the hands of a judge in Baltimore City Circuit Court. The two sides presented their closing arguments to Judge Pamela White on Wednesday and she plans to announce her decision Thursday afternoon. Eliyahu and Avi […]
Witness: Eli Werdesheim acted in self-defense
The president of a neighborhood watch group says he believes one of two brothers charged with assaulting a teen acted in self-defense. Daniel Harris, president of Shomrim of Baltimore, testified Tuesday in the trial of two brothers charged with beating a black teen while patrolling for the Orthodox Jewish neighborhood watch group. Harris says he […]
