A California interior designer was convicted of first-degree murder Wednesday after prosecutors said she killed her butterfly conservationist stepfather when she found nude photos of herself on his computer.
As the San Diego County jury read its verdict against Jade Sasha Janks, 39, of Solana Beach, her eyes widened and she appeared to be in stunned disbelief as she turned toward her defense lawyer.
A California interior designer was convicted of first-degree murder Wednesday after prosecutors said she killed her butterfly conservationist stepfather when she found nude photos of herself on his computer.
As the San Diego County jury read its verdict against Jade Sasha Janks, 39, of Solana Beach, her eyes widened and she appeared to be in stunned disbelief as she turned toward her defense lawyer.
Defense lawyer Marc Carlos said he is evaluating all avenues for appeal. He conceded that text messages Janks sent were pivotal in the jury’s decision.
Jurors rejected lesser charges, such as manslaughter and involuntary manslaughter, which could have allowed a judge to consider mitigating circumstances at sentencing.
“The reason why Jade went to trial was she believed she was not guilty of this thing, and that’s been her position through the whole case,” Carlos told NBC News on Thursday.
Carlos said he understood his client’s stunned reaction.
“It’s just a surreal situation to be in,” he said. “When the jury walks in, hands the note to the judge, the judge reads the note and then the note goes over to the clerk and the clerk begins to read it, it’s like an eternity. So it has a lot of psychological stress.”
Creepy and disturbing BUT not an excuse to kill anybody.
I fail to understand how would somebody having naked pictures of you is a justification for ending that person’s life. The only reason to end somebody’s life is in self defense or defending the lives of others.