Prosecutors are opposing defense attorneys’ request for a delay in the trial of a woman accused of killing her co-worker at a Bethesda yoga store so they can investigate her mental health issues, saying the woman previously denied having psychological problems. Lawyers for 29-year-old Brittany Norwood filed a motion last week asking that her Oct. 24 trial be delayed so they can properly prepare for a so-called insanity plea, known in Maryland as “not criminally responsible.”
Norwood is scheduled to stand trial on first-degree murder charges that she brutally beat 30-year-old Jayna Murray to death at the Lululemon Athletica where they both worked.
In requesting the postponement, Norwood’s attorneys said a plea of not criminally responsible is “likely” and they were still investigating her “social, educational and medical background.”
But prosecutors contended in their response, filed Tuesday in Montgomery County Circuit Court, that Norwood “specifically denied any mental health issues in her interviews with the investigating officers as well as with hospital officials.”
Norwood was examined at Suburban Hospital after police found the pair at the Lululemon store the morning of March 12. Prosecutors contend that Norwood pretended to be a victim — officers found her bound, and she said she had been sexually assaulted — to cover up the killing.
Norwood’s brother “emphatically denied” that she had any psychological issues, according to the prosecution motion.
Prosecutors also say Murray’s family “strongly opposes” delaying the trial and is asking that her father, David Murray, be allowed to address the judge via Skype about the family’s opposition at a hearing scheduled for Tuesday.
The motion says David Murray often works overseas and other family members, including a brother in the U.S. Army who had been stationed in Iraq, have made arrangements to attend the trial.
A delay “would cause substantial further financial and emotional harm” to the family, the motion says.
Prosecutors also argue that there’s no reason the defense couldn’t have completed its investigation into Norwood’s mental health in time.
But Norwood’s lawyers said in court papers that they need to “consult with additional mental health experts and provide those experts with accurate and useful background information.”
Her lawyers are also seeking to suppress several statements she made to police after the incident, arguing that she was not told of her right to remain silent and did not have access to an attorney.
