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Mom found guilty in boy’s death, but retrial a possibility
Aug. 5, 2008 News Summary
Summarized by Anton Hein
www.religionnewsblog.com
Mom found guilty in boy’s death, but retrial a possibility
Confusion over verdict forms submitted by jurors could mean a retrial for a Tucson woman convicted Monday of negligent homicide in the death of her 5-year-old son.
Brandon Williams died from a 3 1/2-inch skull fracture, but there was evidence he had also been drugged, burned and tied up in the weeks leading up to his death. His mother, Diane Marsh, 41, was charged with first-degree murder and four counts of child abuse.
On Monday she was convicted of the less serious charge of negligent homicide and four counts of child abuse. The jurors decided Marsh “intentionally and knowingly” engaged in the child abuse, but said none of the acts was likely to cause Brandon’s death. The jurors also said that while Deputy Pima County Attorney Shawn Jensvold proved Marsh drugged the boy, he failed to prove Marsh caused the head injury.
Jurors were given two forms to fill out when it came to the murder charge. On one form, they were asked if Marsh was guilty of felony murder. On the other, they could have convicted Marsh of second-degree murder or the less serious charges of manslaughter or negligent homicide.
The jurors wrote “guilty” next to negligent homicide but left the other blanks empty.
Jensvold believes the jury couldn’t reach a unanimous decision on the more serious charges and therefore, Marsh could be tried for murder again because those entries were left blank. Defense attorney Steve Sonenberg believes the jury believed Marsh was guilty only of negligent homicide.
Pima County Superior Court Judge Hector Campoy will allow the attorneys to argue their viewpoints on Aug. 26.
If the verdict stands, Marsh could be placed on probation or sent to prison. The maximum sentence on any one count is 3.75 years.
Marsh testified last week that she spent months living her life at the direction of her roommates, Flower Tompson and Mark Moss.
She came to believe satanic cults were out to kill her and her son, and that Tompson knew the best way to deal with Brandon, even when it involved physical abuse, Marsh said.
[...]Marsh, a former U.S. Air Force cook, met Tompson and Moss in August 2006, and the two quickly moved in with her, Marsh said.
Within a month, Tompson had convinced her that satanic cults wanted her and Brandon dead, Marsh said.
Tompson often relayed various orders to Marsh that supposedly came down from a juvenile probation officer named “Jamie,” Marsh said.
Those orders included looking for high priests, hiding out from family and friends who had been corrupted by the cults and making drastic changes in her day-to-day life.
For instance, Marsh said, she stopped giving Brandon his medication because Tompson said Jamie was working on getting him better medications. She also stopped taking him to his therapy sessions, school and day care because Tompson told her Jamie didn’t believe they were safe.
She also stopped going to the VA hospital because Tompson said Jamie said they were going to kill her, Marsh said.
[...]Tompson, who was charged with first-degree murder and child abuse, has pleaded guilty to one count of child abuse under circumstances likely to cause death or serious physical injury.
She is facing a prison sentence of five to 15 years. Moss was never charged in connection with the case.
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