MURDER TRIAL IS DELAYED PALMDALE DEFENDANT BEGS FOR DEATH PENALTY.Byline: Emanual Parker Staff Writer LOS ANGELES Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. - The trial of murder defendant Richard James Richard James may refer to:
Attorneys had been scheduled to make their closing arguments, but the hearing was delayed more than two hours when Poynton refused to leave his cell. In what has become a habit for Poynton, he banged his head against a hard surface until he bled before agreeing to come to court. Once there, the barefoot defendant announced through his attorney, Franklin Peters Jr., that he wanted to testify. A weary Peters told Superior Court Judge Tricia Ann Bigelow he had spent several hours trying to dissuade TO DISSUADE, crim. law. To induce a person not to do an act. 2. To dissuade a witness from giving evidence against a person indicted, is an indictable offence at common law. Hawk. B. 1, c. 2 1, s. 1 5. his client from taking the witness stand. Poynton, visibly upset that Peters disapproved of his plan, then told the judge he wanted to fire his attorney. Bigelow cleared the courtroom and questioned Poynton and Peters for 15 minutes before denying the request. When jurors were called back into the courtroom, Poynton addressed them, pleading, ``Please give me the death penalty, I beg you. Because if you don't I'm just going to commit suicide Verb 1. commit suicide - kill oneself; "the terminally ill patient committed suicide" kill - cause to die; put to death, usually intentionally or knowingly; "This man killed several people when he tried to rob a bank"; "The farmer killed a pig for the holidays" .'' Bigelow again ordered jurors out of the courtroom and Poynton was taken back to jail. The judge said Poynton's request to testify, coming so late in the trial, is unusual and might be a delaying tactic, but she granted his request. She adjourned court until 8:45 a.m. Monday to give Peters time to prepare Poynton to testify. Bigelow warned that if Poynton refuses to come to court Monday, the trial will proceed without him. Poynton, 50, is accused of fatally attacking his estranged es·trange tr.v. es·tranged, es·trang·ing, es·trang·es 1. To make hostile, unsympathetic, or indifferent; alienate. 2. To remove from an accustomed place or set of associations. wife, Marie, on Jan. 15, 1999, along Angeles Forest Highway The Angeles Forest Highway traverses the Angeles National Forest and connects the Los Angeles basin to the Antelope Valley by going up and over the San Gabriel Mountains. The highway is variously known as County Road N-3 or FH-59 or the Palmdale cutoff. It is about 25 miles long. as she drove home from cleaning houses in Pasadena. Authorities say he forced her car off the road, stabbed and shot her, then got in her car and drove to Laughlin, Nev. After gambling a few hours at the Riverside Casino, he surrendered to a security guard. His attorney argued that Poynton is mentally ill, acted without thinking and was in a trance when he killed his 44-year-old wife. Deputy District Attorney Rhonda Saunders said Poynton was angry with his wife because she had filed for a divorce and that his alleged mental illness is a ruse Ruse (r  `sĕ), city (1993 pop. 170,209), NE Bulgaria, on the Danube River bordering Romania. The chief river port of Bulgaria, it is also an industrial and communications center. to save him from the death penalty.
Poynton faces charges of stalking and murder while lying in wait, special circumstances special circumstances n. in criminal cases, particularly homicides, actions of the accused or the situation under which the crime was committed for which state statutes allow or require imposition of a more severe punishment. that make him eligible for the death penalty if he is convicted. CAPTION(S): photo Photo: (color) MARIE POYNTON |
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