---

---

ReligionNewsBlog.com • Item 1035 • Posted: Friday October 25, 2002  

---

Juror Claims Panel Unaware They Had Other Options
AP, Oct. 24, 2002
http://www.nbc4.tv/

RIVERSIDE, Calif. — Jurors who convicted a woman of second-degree murder in the toilet-drowning death of her newborn son may not have realized that they could have convicted her of involuntary manslaughter.

Donna Michelle Knight’s sentencing was postponed for at least two months by Superior Court Judge Ronald Taylor so defense attorney Grover Porter can question jurors to determine if they misunderstood instructions. One juror claimed the panel didn’t know involuntary manslaughter was an option.

Knight, 37, was convicted June 14 of murdering her son in September 1999. The 10-woman, two-man jury returned a second-degree murder verdict, which calls for 15 years to life in prison. Involuntary manslaughter carries a maximum sentence of four years.

Deputy District Attorney Deena Bennett had sought a first-degree murder conviction, arguing that the unmarried woman intentionally killed her baby after concealing her pregnancy because she was afraid of repercussions from her Jehovah’s Witness church.

Bennett said the religion considers sexual relations outside of marriage grounds for excommunication.

Porter argued that Knight, who weighed at least 275 pounds, did not know she was pregnant and on the day of the baby’s death she was taking antidepressants and other medication and could not remember what happened.

Although jurors were given an instruction for involuntary manslaughter, the foreman told them they could not consider that option, a juror said. Actually, it was voluntary manslaughter that was not to be considered.

---

What You Can Do From Here

---

Read More Articles On These Topics Categories: Jehovah's Witnesses Share, Blog About, Bookmark, or Email This Article Subscribe Religion News Blog RSS feed [What is this?] RSS by topic: Jehovah's Witnesses Read Another Article Previous entry: Fayetteville alternative: Diversity, tolerance Next entry: Google excluding controversial sites RNB Homepage with latest headlines Find Related Information Use our custom search engines to find additional research resources on religions and cults Find Related Books Jehovah's Witnesses Most Popular Today Megachurch founding pastors Randy and Paula White to seek divorce Randy and Paula White: Divorce shakes evangelical empire Evangelist Bynum attacked by husband in parking lot Jane Doe in Warren Jeffs case no longer seeks anonymity, shows photo The End of the World Cult: Michael Travesser Well-Known TV Minister Juanita Bynum Told Police Husband Savagely Beat Her Escape from polygamy: Ex-plural wife alleges rampant abuse in FLDS unions Televangelist Joel Osteen shuns lavish lifestyle Juanita Bynum, Thomas Weeks willing to reconcile? A church accounting: Joyce Meyer’s $23,000 toilet, Scientology, and more…

---

Share This Article

---

To share this page simply copy and paste one of these URL's:

• Post a link on your blog or website:
  
• Send in an email or IM:
  
• Post on a forum:
  

Search for information about (religious) cults, cult-like organizations, -- as well as paranormal-, New Age, and pseudoscientific claims -- across 260+ websites, blogs and forums dedicated to cult research, spiritual abuse, ex-cult counseling & support.

Note: results are listed on another domain -- CounterCultSearch.com -- from which you can easily return here.

Search for apologetics articles, books, videos, and other research resources across 135 Christian apologetics websites and blogs.

Note: results are listed on another domain -- ApologeticsSearch.com -- from which you can easily return here.