Marine Found Guilty of Manslaughter in Stabbing, Anti-Gay Epithet Case
On Dec. 2, a D.C. Superior Court jury found Michael Poth, 22, of Washington, guilty of manslaughter while armed in the fatal stabbing of 24-year-old fellow Marine Philip Bushong in the city’s Barracks Row neighborhood during the early morning hours of April 21, 2012.
Poth was originally tried on a charge of second-degree murder while armed, but the jury initially deadlocked on a decision. Poth’s lawyer, Bernard Grimm, made a motion for a mistrial, which was denied by D.C. Superior Court Judge Russell F. Canan. Canan then instructed the jury that to either choose to convict Poth on the more serious charge - murder - or on a ’’lesser included offense’’ of manslaughter, meaning a charge that meets the same basic criteria needed for a conviction on the more serious charge.
After receiving instructions, the jury found Poth guilty of second-degree voluntary manslaughter, meaning he planned or intended to attack Bushong, but only to cause him bodily harm and not to kill him. Canan has scheduled Poth’s sentencing for Feb. 7. According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia, a charge of voluntary manslaughter carries a maximum sentence of 60 years in prison.
The reduction of the charge from murder to voluntary manslaughter signals a success on the part of Poth’s defense team to cast doubt on whether Poth maliciously attacked Bushong, or whether, as Grimm argued in trial, Poth had been provoked and was attempting to defend himself following a verbal altercation with Bushong that quickly turned physical. Poth’s defense team also successfully managed to have some of Poth’s more incriminating statements suppressed, meaning the jury was not allowed to hear about them during trial.
more: http://www.edgeboston.com/news/crime/152809/marine_found_guilty_of_manslaughter_in_stabbing,_anti-gay_epithet_case