Appeal Over Dictionary Use Denied in U Va Lacrosse Slaying
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Appeal over dictionary use denied in U Va lacrosse slaying
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In a ruling issued Monday, U.S. District Judge Thomas Cullen in Roanoke ordered an evidentiary hearing be held to determine whether the jury improperly used a dictionary to look up the definition of “malice.”
A finding of malice was necessary to convict Huguely of murder, and his appellate attorneys say use of a dictionary would be inadmissible evidence and that the jury instructions contained a detailed legal definition of malice that should have guided the jury s discussions.
State judges had heard this same argument and rejected it. Only one juror said the jury received a dictionary from a bailiff; other jurors couldn t remember and one other juror explicitly denied a dictionary was used.