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A jury on Thursday found a Virginia man, accused of shooting his next-door neighbor, guilty of first-degree murder. Michael Hetle, a 52-year-old former police officer and NASA executive, shot 24-year-old Javon Prather seven times, a video of which was caught by a Ring doorbell camera, local news outlet WTOP reported. Hetle and Prather had feuded for years, arguing over mundane things like dog poop and loud music, according to local news outlets. Since 2016, Hetle has called the police to complain about barking dog noises coming from Prather's house, WTOP said. Before the jury, Hetle's attorney argued that he acted...

The Supreme Court on Monday ruled that states can effectively eliminate the insanity defense for criminal defendants who suffer from mental illness. The 6-3 ruling holds that a Kansas law preventing the exoneration of defendants who claim a diminished mental state is not unconstitutional. In an unusual alignment for the bench, Justice Elena Kagan, considered among the more liberal justices, wrote the majority opinion and was joined by her five conservative colleagues. Three liberal justices — Stephen Breyer, Sonia Sotomayor and Ruth Bader Ginsburg — dissented. "Defining the precise relationship between criminal culpability and mental illness involves examining the workings...

The Times March 23, 2006 Insanity clause could save Christian convert From Richard Beeston Diplomatic Editor and Tim Albone in Kabul PRESIDENT BUSH led international condemnation of Afghanistan yesterday over the case of a Muslim who converted to Christianity and now faces the death penalty under the country’s Islamic laws. He criticised the Afghan authorities, saying that liberated countries needed to respect democratic rights. “I am deeply troubled when I hear that a person who may have converted away from Islam may be held accountable,” Mr Bush said. His comments came after the arrest of Abdul Rahman this month. Under...

Andrea Yates left jail early Thursday for a state mental hospital where she will await her second capital murder trial for the drowning deaths of her young children. Yates' attorney posted her $200,000 bond, releasing her from incarceration for the first time since the five children were drowned in the family bathtub in June 2001. State District Judge Belinda Hill set the bond Wednesday. Yates, 41, didn't speak as she left the jail. She carried a brown paper sack and wore jeans and a blue-and-white striped shirt as she entered a car with her attorney and a private investigator for...

Deseret Morning News, Sunday, August 29, 2004As defense, insanity is tough sellFew attempt it because of Utah's strict statutesBy Linda ThomsonDeseret Morning News When someone is charged with murder, the first response of many people is "He must have been insane." Leonard Gall, right, with attorney Stephen McCaughey, pleads guilty but mentally ill in September 2003.Associated Press And in the case of Mark Douglas Hacking — charged with murdering his wife, Lori — other behaviors seem not quite right: Things like running around naked outside a hotel and checking into a mental ward before his arrest.For now there is no...

"Divine Revelation" Unlikely to Influence Court BY Stephen Hunt Wednesday March 19, 2003 THE SALT LAKE TRIBUNE Brian David Mitchell and Wanda Barzee may believe God ordered them to kidnap Elizabeth Smart, but legal experts say divine revelation will be little help to them in the courtroom. "Being egged on by another is not a defense," said Assistant Utah Attorney General Michael Wims. "It is not a defense that God urged them to do it." Mitchell, 49, and Barzee, 57, were charged Tuesday in 3rd District Court with aggravated kidnapping and five other felonies in connection with the June...

Jury poised to begin deliberations in Andrea Yates case 03/12/2002 Associated Press HOUSTON - Andrea Yates is mentally ill but must be convicted of capital murder because she knew drowning her five children was wrong, a prosecutor told jurors Tuesday in closing arguments at Yates' trial. quot;She may have believed it was in the best interest of the children to drown them one after the other, but that's not the law in Texas,quot; Harris County assistant prosecutor Joe Owmby said. quot;It's not that I am without sympathy or that you are without sympathy,quot; Owmby said. quot;You have to decide...