By David in TN
The trial of Brittany Norwood for the murder of her co-worker, Jayna Murray, at an upscale yoga shop began on Wednesday. State's attorney John McCarthy told jurors that Norwood lured Murray back to Lululemon store and attacked her with at least a half-dozen objects found inside the shop.
The women were found in the shop the next morning. Murray was lying face down in a pool of blood with a rope around her neck. Her skull was crushed, and 322 distinct wounds, the majority while she was alive, were inflicted on her. One hundred and seven wounds were defensive, which Montgomery County State's Attorney John McCarthy “said the medical examiner would testify were the most she had ever seen.”
McCarthy said Norwood used a hammer, a wrench, a knife, a rope, a box cutter, and a merchandise peg. The peg was one of the items that left a pattern of injuries in Murray's skull, indicating "she had been beaten with the same item multiple times."
Murray’s killer, Brittany Norwood; WTOP.com: “Norwood is charged with first-degree murder. Prosecutors intend to seek life without possibility of parole. (Montgomery County Police Department)”Does this sound like it started with the proverbial sucker punch with a hammer or wrench?
Norwood was found with superficial wounds and her hands bound. She alleged both had been sexually assaulted. Her story of two assailants soon fell apart.
What is the defense? “Brittany Woods lost it, ladies and gentleman,” defense attorney Douglas Wood told the jury. “There's no doubt about it.” Wood argued that the crime was not premeditated. “Something erupted between these two young women that night.”
The defense is not using the “Crazy Card,” but the “Lost It Card.” Norwood's attorneys are hoping for a verdict of second degree murder.
Previously, at WEJB/NSU:
“Bethesda Cops: Black Yoga Store Worker Murdered White Colleague, Made Up Story about Masked Rapist-Killers, in Order to Avoid Jail for Thefts”;
“Black Bethesda Yoga Store Worker Brittany Norwood is Charged with Killing Her White Colleague, Jayna Murray: Five Videos”;
“Trial Date Set For Britanny Norwood, in Non-Hate Crime Murder in Bethesda, Maryland, lululemon athletica Store”;
“Reader Who Claims to Have Known Jayna Murray, Whose Killer Smashed Her Skull in for 20 Minutes in lululemon athletica, Has Compassion for the Killer, but None for Those Who Would Judge Her”;
“In Web Posts and Emails, Friends of Brittany Norwood, the Racist Lululemon Killer of Jayna Murray, Paint Mutually Contradictory Portraits of Norwood”;
“In 2007, Ex-Boyfriend Charged That Lululemon Murderer Brittany Norwood was Stalking Him”;
“Already in August, Lululemon Killer Brittany Norwood’s Lawyer was Playing the ‘Crazy Card’”; and
“New Details in Grisly Lululemon Murder: Brittany Norwood Used at Least 4 Different Weapons to Kill Jayna Murray; Prosecutor: Crime was ‘Pre-Meditated.’”
2 comments:
This post is grossly inaccurate and defamatory. No filing deadline was ever missed. You should make some effort to check facts before posting. I suggest that revise your aricle to something that is closer to being accurate.
Harry Trainor
If it isn’t Harry Trainor, old Savings-and-Loan buddy, old pal!
When you sent me your love letter (by email, independent of these affectionate blog comments) today—on Thanksgiving Day!—I went hunting to find the instances of my having made “absolutely false and defamatory” statements about you. I found none.
Here’s what I found: I had quoted Washington Times reporter Meredith Somers (see below), who said, “Attorneys for Brittany Norwood failed to file a not-criminally-responsible plea by the Monday deadline set by Montgomery County Circuit Judge Robert A. Greenberg.”
Did Meredith Somers lie about you? If so, take it up with her. Did Montgomery County Circuit Judge Robert A. Greenberg lie about you? If so, take it up with him. Scream at him that his statement was “absolutely false and defamatory,” and see where that gets you.
Are you denying that you were, at the time of the missed deadline, racist murderer Brittany Norwood’s lawyer? Multiple published news sources said that you were. In fact, at the time I saw references to your name alone, and the Washington Times said that you (i.e., as one of her lawyers) “failed to file” by the deadline.
In any event, if you were part of Norwood’s team, and that team missed a filing deadline, then I am absolutely justified, in naming you.
Only later did I see references to other attorneys (Douglas J. Wood and Christopher A. Griffiths) as representing Norwood, at which time I no longer saw any references to you as her defense attorney. Hmmm. I wonder why?
If you are mad because the filing deadline was the responsibility of one of your defense team colleagues, then by all means, name the fiend, but don’t take your rage at him out on me.
If I quote statements made about you, published by independent sources, not only do you have no legal grounds for charging me with having made “absolutely false and defamatory” (or "grossly inaccurate and defamatory") statements about you, but your charge is, in itself, false and defamatory.
If Meredith Somers misrepresented you, in reporting that you failed to meet a filing deadline, then you may shriek at her—asking non-judges clearly isn’t your style—demand that she publish a correction, and see where that gets you.
But don’t try that crap with me. Already before you sent me your love letters, I was no fan of liars, er, lawyers.
And a Happy Thanksgiving to you, too, bub!
Sincerely,
Nicholas Stix
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2011/sep/13/lululemon-defendant-may-not-plead-insanity/
Lululemon defendant may not plead insanity
Charged in slaying of her co-worker
By Meredith Somers
The Washington Times
September 13, 2011
An insanity plea appears to be off the table for the woman charged with killing a co-worker in a Lululemon yoga store in Bethesda.
Attorneys for Brittany Norwood failed to file a not-criminally-responsible plea by the Monday deadline set by Montgomery County Circuit Judge Robert A. Greenberg.
While the defense team could file the plea at a later date, a court official said Tuesday that Judge Greenberg would decide whether it would be allowed.
Calls to Miss Norwood’s attorneys Tuesday were not returned.
The inaction comes after weeks of back and forth between Miss Norwood’s lawyers and Montgomery County State’s Attorney John J. McCarthy, who says the defendant is a sane 29-year-old woman who was able to “play that game” as a victim in the gory death of Arlington resident Jayna Murray, 30….
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