Articles Posted in Murder/Homicide

Attorney J. Bradley Smith answering the question: “If I simply intend to plead guilty, why do I need a lawyer?”

In a very bizarre and tragic case out of Spring Lake, North Carolina, a woman has been charged with first-degree murder in connection to her husband’s death in what at first appeared to have been a simple traffic accident. The single-car accident took place in Harnett County and police were initially not involved, only later launching an investigation after the man’s family revealed suspicious circumstances surrounding his death.

Police initially said that David Worley was involved in a single-car crash on Ray Road when he ran off the side of the road and was thrown from the car after it flipped several times. Police attributed the crash to Worley’s speeding. However, authorities now say the accident was not the cause of the man’s death, but instead wounds that were inflicted on him earlier that afternoon by his wife.

The Harnett County Sherriff’s Office says that the woman, 32-year-old Toni Marsha Talley, has now been charged with first-degree murder in connection with the July 19th death of her husband. According to the sheriff’s office, several members of Worley’s family contacted the funeral home handling the arrangements and voiced serious concerns about the nature of their loved one’s death. Police have said that Worley’s family told the director at the funeral home the man had just been involved in a very bad fight with his wife and they were suspicious about the circumstances surrounding his death.

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Attorney J. Bradley Smith answering the question: “Should I talk to the police?”

In a terrible episode late last month, a man who served as the best man at his good friend’s wedding was arrested for stabbing the bride to death. The tragedy took place in late April when Jonathan Wayne Broyhill allegedly stabbed Jamie Kirk Hahn to death.

Police say Broyhill had been the best man to Nation Richard Hahn at the couple’s wedding four years ago. The three had been friends for many years and the attack took place at the Hahn’s home in Raleigh, North Carolina. Police say that Broyhill had come over for dinner on a Monday night when an argument broke out.

Friends of the Hahn’s say Broyhill stabbed Jamie after her husband left the room. The husband only returned when he heard screaming and arrived to find Broyhill stabbing his wife repeatedly. Police have only said that the incident was not “domestic-related.” No other possible motive has yet been released though police say they are continuing to investigate the events of that evening.

Authorities said that after the attack, Jamie was found about a tenth of a mile away from house with a trail of blood leading back to the scene of the attack. Her husband, Nation, had also been stabbed in the encounter.

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George Zimmerman, the Florida man charged with killing Trayvon Martin, was given a second chance earlier this week to get out of jail when the judge set bail at $1 million. In his ruling, Circuit Court Judge Kenneth Lester said that George Zimmerman manipulated the court during his first bond hearing in April and may have planned to flee with the more than $130,000 he collected through a personal website. Though they are pleased he was granted bail at all, Zimmerman’s defense attorneys say the new bail will be hard for their client to come up with.

Judge Lester says that the increased bail amount is not meant as punishment, but instead it’s meant to allay concerns that Zimmerman intends to flee the jurisdiction. The judge believes that a lesser amount would not guarantee Zimmerman’s presence in court.

Judge Lester decided to revoke Zimmerman’s existing $150,000 bond last month after the state prosecutor accused Zimmerman and his wife of lying to the court about their financial assets during his initial bond hearing to obtain a lower bond. A hearing revealed how Zimmerman instructed his wife on how to transfer money from his bank account into hers and his sister’s while he was in jail, according to recordings of jail calls released by prosecutors.

Judge Lester essentially agreed with the State’s version of events and its portrayal of Zimmerman as a liar. He completely rejected the idea put forward by Zimmerman’s attorney, Mark O’Mara, that Zimmerman lied about his finances because he did not trust the system.

Zimmerman’s wife, Shellie, 25, will also now face a perjury charge for allegedly lying about the couple’s finances. She too was briefly jailed before posting a $1,000 bond.

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Police in Florida are waiting for George Zimmerman to turn himself back into the police after his bail was recently revoked for lying to the judge in the case with regard to his finances. Zimmerman also withheld the fact that he possessed a second passport.

Zimmerman maintains he was defending himself against an attack by Martin on the night of the shooting and has used Florida’s “Stand Your Ground” law as his defense. At the same time, one North Carolina lawmaker moved a bill forward this week that would alter a similar law in existence here.

State Rep. Rodney Moore wants to limit a new North Carolina law that expands the set of circumstances where a person can justifiably shoot and kill an intruder when he or she feels seriously threatened. The law in the state currently says people are not limited only to their homes, but can shoot those in their cars or workplaces. Moore believes the law as written is too broad and that it could lead to racial profiling and incidents similar to the Trayvon Martin shooting.

Moore said that, “If you make a decision to take a life, there should be some type of inquiry or investigation.” Moore’s bill would ask that automobile and workplace language be stripped from the law.

Supporters of the North Carolina law have said it clearly states where and when deadly force is appropriate, leaving very little open to interpretation. Moore’s bill is currently before the House Judiciary Committee awaiting review.

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An appellate court in North Carolina has denied the appeal of a man who was convicted of killing two Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department officers, according to a recent report by WBTV News in Charlotte. The man is Demeatrius Antonio Montgomery and in 2010 he was found guilty of the first-degree murder of Officers Sean Clark and Jeff Shelton. The murders occurred three years earlier in 2007 at the Timber Ridge Apartments in East Charlotte.

After being found guilty, Montgomery was sentenced to two consecutive life sentences. His new attorneys, however, appealed his murder conviction in 2011, asking the court to overturn the convictions for several reasons, the most prominent of which centers on Montgomery’s mental competence. After considering the issues on appeal, the appellate court denied the defense’s request, saying that Montgomery’s claims were without merit and that the trial court’s decision was correct. Montgomery’s attorney, Andrew DiSimone, says that he is currently considering the possibility of filing an appeal with the North Carolina Supreme Court.

Montgomery’s competency issues arose during his original trial. On three separate occasions Montgomery moved to have the court declare him incompetent to stand trial. The first two motions were denied by the presiding judge and the third motion was withdrawn after the district attorney agreed to take the death penalty off of the table. The defense presented testimony from expert witnesses who spoke about Montgomery’s silence and refusal to participate in his own defense: however, the appellate court found that Montgomery’s silence was likely the result of his own choosing.

Although is it not usually discussed, competency to stand trial is a very important issue in some criminal trials. If an attorney is dealing with a defendant with a history of mental illness, it may be beneficial for the attorney to seek a determination of whether the defendant is legally able to assist in his or her own defense.

North Carolina law on competency reads as follows: “No person may be tried, convicted, sentenced, or punished for a crime when by reason of mental illness or defect he is unable to understand the nature and object of the proceedings against him, to comprehend his own situation in reference to the proceedings, or to assist his defense in a rational or reasonable manner.”

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A report from WBTV reveals that Danny Hembree’s murder trial is heating up. Prosecutors in the trial played Hembree’s taped confession for the jurors on Monday, March 26, 2012. Hembree was being interviewed by the police when he confessed to killing Randi Saldana.

During the interview, Hembree told investigators that he had to get some things “off of his chest.” He was calm when he revealed how he had lured Saldana to his mother’s house in 2009 with the promise of crack cocaine. He told them that he used his hands to choke her and then repeatedly punched her in the face. He said, “It just seemed like she wouldn’t die. She wouldn’t stop bleeding.” Hembree also told investigators that the murder happened while his mother was in the kitchen.

On Thursday, March 22, 2012, Saldana’s sister, Shellie Nations, took the stand at Hembree’s trial and choked back tears as she had to identify the butterfly necklace and boots that Saldana was wearing the last time she saw her sister alive. On cross-examination, Hembree’s defense attorney asked Nations about Saldana’s drug abuse.

After Nations’ testimony, the prosecutors played Hembree’s confession to the jury. They also showed the jury the lamp that Hembree used to tie up Saldana’s legs. During the confession, Hembree admitted to setting Saldana’s body on fire and then taking her body to South Carolina to dump it.

Hembree is a unique defendant because at the time of this trial, he was currently serving a capital sentence for the murder of Heather Cotton, who was 17 at the time of her death. In Saldana’s case, the prosecutors did not pursue the death penalty.

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