George Huguely Murder Trial Outcome

IN UVA MURDER TRIAL, PROFESSOR BYRON WARNKEN PREDICTS SECOND DEGREE MURDER OR MANSLAUGHTER ON THE PREMEDITATED MURDER COUNT & PREDICTS FIRST DEGREE MURDER ON THE FELONY MURDER COUNT

The nation has followed the “UVA murder trial.”  The Commonwealth of Virginia has charged Defendant George Huguely, from Montgomery County, Maryland, with first degree murder of his former girlfriend and fellow UVA senior, Yeardly Love, from Baltimore County, Maryland.  The Commonwealth has two theories to support its murder prosecution.

One theory is premeditated murder, alleging that the Defendant had a specific intent to kill the victim and that he “premeditated” the killing, even if only for a brief period of time.  The other theory, which has not received nearly as much attention in the media, is felony murder.  Under felony murder, it is first degree murder if the Defendant kills the victim while perpetrating an enumerated felony, even if the Defendant has no intent to kill.  In this case, the Commonwealth is arguing that the Defendant committed a burglary by breaking into the Victim’s apartment, with intent to steal, and that he killed the Victim while the burglary was in progress.  The Commonwealth even brought into court the door to the apartment, which the Defendant apparently broke through.

Professor Byron L. Warnken has taught criminal law and procedure for 35 years at the University of Baltimore School of Law.  In interviews with both Channel 2 and Channel 13, he offered the following:

The Commonwealth has presented sufficient evidence to get its case to the jury on all of its counts.  Under the intentional murder theory, in order to convict the Defendant of second degree murder, the Commonwealth must demonstrate, beyond a reasonable doubt, that the Defendant had a mental state of specific intent to kill.  To upgrade the verdict from second degree murder to first degree murder, the Commonwealth must demonstrate, beyond a reasonable doubt, that the Defendant’s specific intent to kill mental state was premeditated.

Mental state is almost always proven by surrounding circumstances and not by direct evidence.  The only evidence of mental state in this case are statements of the Defendant, statements of some of the Defendant’s classmates, and surrounding circumstances.  Warnken believes that, although there is sufficient evidence to “get to the jury,” on premeditated murder, premeditation will be tough for the Commonwealth to establish beyond a reasonable doubt.  The jury will likely reach a compromise at the second degree murder level or even at the manslaughter level.

Warnken believes that, even though the Commonwealth will not obtain a first degree murder conviction under the premeditated murder theory, the Commonwealth will obtain a first degree murder conviction under the felony murder theory.  There is evidence that the Defendant broke into the Victim’s apartment with intent to steal, as evidenced by the fact that the Defendant took the victim’s computer.  The Commonwealth will probably be successful in arguing that the killing took place during the burglary.

Note: an earlier version of this post, like in the URL, incorrectly spells George Huguely, George Hughley