ROCKVILLE, Md. (AP) - The lawyer for a woman charged with first-degree murder in the stabbing of two children during an exorcism says he will mount a defense that she is not criminally responsible.
David Felsen, a lawyer for 21-year-old Monifa Sanford, said in court Friday that he will pursue Maryland’s equivalent of an insanity defense. The Washington Post reports (https://wapo.st/1oyRu9O) that Sanford’s trial is scheduled for August.
Sanford and 28-year-old Zakieya Avery are charged with murder in the deaths of Avery’s two toddlers in January in a home in Germantown. Two of Avery’s other children were injured in the attack.
Under Maryland law, a person can be found to be not criminally responsible if they didn’t understand what they were doing was wrong.
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Information from: The Washington Post, https://www.washingtonpost.com
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