Defense attorneys for the woman accused of killing her co-worker at an upscale Bethesda yoga store say they plan to call at least one mental health expert at the woman’s October trial.
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Attorneys for 28-year-old Brittany Norwood, who is accused of brutally beating 30-year-old Jayna Murray to death in March at the Lululemon Athletica where they both worked, said at a hearing in Montgomery County Circuit Court that they are considering entering a plea of “not criminally responsible.”
That would mean Norwood’s attorneys would argue that she was too mentally ill to be held responsible in Murray’s slaying.
To use such a defense, Norwood’s attorneys would have to prove that at the time of the killing, she had a mental disorder that prevented her from knowing that her actions were illegal or lacked the capacity to “conform that conduct to the requirements of the law,” according to Maryland law.
Defense attorney Christopher Griffiths asked Judge Robert Greenberg for an extension of time to give prosecutors the names of the expert witnesses who will testify for the defense. The parties are expected to return to court later this month for arguments on the deadline extension.
Douglas Wood, another attorney for Norwood, said he wants to suppress five statements Murray made to investigators after the killing. He did not elaborate on those statements.
The March 11 attack came after Murray — under instructions from her managers — looked into Norwood’s purse and found stolen Lululemon merchandise.
State’s Attorney John McCarthy said prosecutors were planning to use evidence about the shoplifting at trial to show a motive for “what ultimately transpired that night.”
Prosecutors allege that the two engaged in a struggle that resulted in Norwood crushing Murray’s skull and severing her spinal cord.
Norwood pretended that she was also a victim when police found the pair in the store the next morning. Norwood was bound, and told authorities that she had been sexually assaulted, police said.
Norwood was arrested a week after the killing when forensic evidence confirmed investigators’ doubts about her story.
Her trial on a charge of first-degree murder is slated to begin Oct. 24.
Prosecutors say they intend to seek a sentence of life in prison without parole if Norwood is convicted in Murray’s death.
The Lululemon store, located at 4856 Bethesda Ave., was closed for months after the slaying but reopened in June.
