GUILTY CA - Oakland, Nia Wilson stabbed to death on BART, sister injured, 22 Jul 2018 *Arrest*

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A couple of articles from yesterday re closing arguments.

Nia Wilson murder trial: Prosecutor replays stabbing video in closing arguments

Defense attorney tells Nia Wilson’s supporters: ‘This trial is not about you’

 

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Tuesday, March 10th:
*Jury Trial continues (Day 13) (@ 9am PT) – CA – Nia Wilson (18) (July 22, 2018, MacArthur BART Station, Oakland; her sister Letifah (26) was injured) – *John Lee Cowell (27/now 28) arrested (7/23/18) & charged (7/25/18) with murder & attempted murder with special allegations of using a deadly weapon on each charge. Plead not guilty by reason of insanity. No bond. DA will not seek DP.
Trial began on 1/15/20 with jury selection. Trial started on 2/5/20 with opening statements.
Court hearings & trial (Days 1 to 9) info from 7/25/18 thru 2/20/20 reference post #95 here:
CA - Oakland, Nia Wilson stabbed to death on BART, sister injured, 22 Jul 2018 *Arrest*
2/21/20: Friday Day 10: Defense witness: Psychiatrist Jeremy Coles. No other info available yet. Trial continues on Monday, 2/24.
2/24/20 Monday Day 11: Cowell was not in courtroom. Defense rests. Prosecutors called their last rebuttal witness a psychiatrist. Closing arguments will be on 3/9.
3/9/30 Monday Day 12: Cowell was not in the courtroom. Prosecutor Ford again showed the jury on Monday the horrific scenes that led to Nia Wilson’s death — her walk across an Oakland BART station platform, a figure from behind driving a knife twice into her neck and the 18-year-old stumbling off the train in her final moments. Both sides finished closing arguments. Ford will have a chance to present a rebuttal argument on Tuesday, 3/10 and then the jury is expected to begin its deliberations.

 

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Nia Wilson murder trial: Prosecutor replays stabbing video in closing arguments

March 9, 2020
An Alameda County jury on Monday once again viewed the horrific scenes that led to Nia Wilson’s death — her walk across an Oakland BART station platform, a figure from behind driving a knife twice into her neck and the 18-year-old stumbling off the train in her final moments.
[.....]
Ford’s closing arguments underscored what he said were inconsistencies in Cowell’s behavior, and he told jurors the defendant was “putting on a show” in order to appear mentally unstable.

Cowell has been mostly absent from his own trial, either being removed from the courtroom for outbursts or refusing to enter. The defendant took the stand in his own defense last month, and in testimony he said he believed the Wilson sisters were aliens and members of a gang that had kidnapped his grandmother.

 

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Cowell Found Guilty of Murdering Nia Wilson at BART Station

March 10, 2020

John Lee Cowell was convicted Tuesday of first-degree murder and other charges for the fatal stabbing of 18-year-old Nia Wilson at the MacArthur BART station in Oakland in 2018.

Jurors only deliberated for about two hours before announcing their verdict against Cowell, a 29-year-old transient man with a history of mental illness, for the stabbing at the MacArthur station at about 9:35 p.m. on July 22, 2018.

Jurors also convicted Cowell of premeditated attempted murder for stabbing Wilson's sister Letifah Wilson, who was injured but survived the attack.

In addition, jurors found true a special circumstance allegation that Cowell murdered Nia Wilson by lying in wait for concealing his intent and then killing her by taking her by surprise.
[.....]
However, on Wednesday [3/11/20] a separate sanity phase will begin in which the same jury will decide if he was legally sane at the time of the attack.

If Cowell is found to have been insane at the time of the attack he would serve his sentence in a state mental hospital instead of prison.

Cowell was absent from most of his trial, either because of outbursts or because he's refused to come to court.

But he was in court on Tuesday morning when Alameda County prosecutor Butch Ford presented his rebuttal closing argument and was present again on Tuesday afternoon when the jury announced its verdict.

 

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Wednesday, March 11th:
*Jury Trial continues (Day 1)-Sanity Phase (@ 9am PT) – CA – Nia Wilson (18) (July 22, 2018, MacArthur BART Station, Oakland; her sister Letifah (26) was injured) – *John Lee Cowell (27/now 28) arrested (7/23/18) & charged (7/25/18) with murder & attempted murder with special allegations of using a deadly weapon on each charge. Plead not guilty by reason of insanity. No bond. DA will not seek DP.
Trial began on 1/15/20 with jury selection. Trial started on 2/5/20 with opening statements & ended on 3/10/20 with a guilty verdict of all charges.
Court hearings & trial (Days 1 to 9) info from 7/25/18 thru 2/20/20 reference post #95 here:
CA - Oakland, Nia Wilson stabbed to death on BART, sister injured, 22 Jul 2018 *Arrest*
2/21/20: Friday Day 10: Defense witness: Psychiatrist Jeremy Coles. No other info available yet. Trial continues on Monday, 2/24.
2/24/20 Monday Day 11: Cowell was not in courtroom. Defense rests. Prosecutors called their last rebuttal witness a psychiatrist. Closing arguments will be on 3/9.
3/9/30 Monday Day 12: Cowell was not in the courtroom. Prosecutor Ford again showed the jury on Monday the horrific scenes that led to Nia Wilson’s death — her walk across an Oakland BART station platform, a figure from behind driving a knife twice into her neck and the 18-year-old stumbling off the train in her final moments. Both sides finished closing arguments. Ford will have a chance to present a rebuttal argument on Tuesday, 3/10 and then the jury is expected to begin its deliberations.
3/10/20 Tuesday Day 13: State rebuttal arguments. Jury instructions done by Judge. Jury deliberated for about 2 hours and came back with a guilty verdict for all charges. A sanity phase will begin in which the same jury will decide if he was legally sane at the time of the attack on 3/11.

 

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Attorneys face off in sanity phase of Nia Wilson murder trial

March 11, 2020
A day after John Lee Cowell was convicted of first-degree murder for the fatal stabbing of Nia Wilson at an Oakland BART station in Oakland in 2018, the attorneys in his trial argued on Wednesday afternoon about whether he was legally sane at the time.

The sanity phase of the trial for Cowell, a 29-year-old transient man with a history of mental illness, was unusually short because defense attorney Christina Moore didn’t present any witnesses on his behalf.

Moore sought to present the testimony of a mental health expert, but Alameda County Superior Court Judge Allan Hymer, who is presiding over Cowell’s case, ruled at a hearing outside of the presence of jurors on Wednesday morning that the expert couldn’t testify.
[.....]
Cowell was absent from most of his trial, either because of outbursts or because he’s refused to come to court, but he was present during the sanity phase arguments.

Jurors began deliberating late Wednesday afternoon.

 

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Thursday, March 12th:
*Jury Trial continues (Day 2)-Sanity Phase-Jury Deliberating (@ 9am PT) – CA – Nia Wilson (18) (July 22, 2018, MacArthur BART Station, Oakland; her sister Letifah (26) was injured) – *John Lee Cowell (27/now 28) arrested (7/23/18) & charged (7/25/18) with murder & attempted murder with special allegations of using a deadly weapon on each charge. Plead not guilty by reason of insanity. No bond. DA will not seek DP.
Trial began on 1/15/20 with jury selection. Trial started on 2/5/20 and ended on 3/10/20 with a guilty verdict. Sanity Phase started on 3/11/20.
Court hearings & trial (Days 1 to 13) info from 7/25/18 thru 3/10/20 reference post #105 here:
CA - Oakland, Nia Wilson stabbed to death on BART, sister injured, 22 Jul 2018 *Arrest*
3/11/20 Wednesday Day 1 of Sanity Phase: Neither the prosecution nor defense calling additional witnesses. Because sanity proceedings flip the burden of proof from prosecutors to the defense, it’s up to Cowell’s attorney, Christina Moore, to convince jurors her client, who has been diagnosed with schizophrenia, was disconnected from reality at the time of the offense. Moore had planned to introduce an expert witness who would have testified Wednesday that Cowell was legally insane at the time of the offense. But in a surprise hearing just hours before the second phase of the trial began, Judge Allan Hymer ruled that this witness would not be allowed to take the stand, Moore said. Instead, both Moore and prosecutor Butch Ford offered only brief closing statements, highlighting their key points in the trial. Jurors began deliberations at about 3:30 p.m. Wednesday and did not reach a verdict by the end of the day. They are expected to resume Thursday morning, 3/12.

 

[Niner]

Didn't find any updates on "what" happened yesterday.... so I'll put this here just in case they are still deliberating.

Friday, March 13th:
*Jury Trial continues (Day 3)-Sanity Phase-Jury Deliberating (@ 9am PT) – CA – Nia Wilson (18) (July 22, 2018, MacArthur BART Station, Oakland; her sister Letifah (26) was injured) – *John Lee Cowell (27/now 28) arrested (7/23/18) & charged (7/25/18) with murder & attempted murder with special allegations of using a deadly weapon on each charge. Plead not guilty by reason of insanity. No bond. DA will not seek DP.
Trial began on 1/15/20 with jury selection. Trial started on 2/5/20 and ended on 3/10/20 with a guilty verdict. Sanity Phase started on 3/11/20.
Court hearings & trial (Days 1 to 13) info from 7/25/18 thru 3/10/20 reference post #105 here:
CA - Oakland, Nia Wilson stabbed to death on BART, sister injured, 22 Jul 2018 *Arrest*
3/11/20 Wednesday Day 1 of Sanity Phase: Neither the prosecution nor defense calling additional witnesses. Because sanity proceedings flip the burden of proof from prosecutors to the defense, it’s up to Cowell’s attorney, Christina Moore, to convince jurors her client, who has been diagnosed with schizophrenia, was disconnected from reality at the time of the offense. Moore had planned to introduce an expert witness who would have testified Wednesday that Cowell was legally insane at the time of the offense. But in a surprise hearing just hours before the second phase of the trial began, Judge Allan Hymer ruled that this witness would not be allowed to take the stand, Moore said. Instead, both Moore and prosecutor Butch Ford offered only brief closing statements, highlighting their key points in the trial. Jurors began deliberations at about 3:30 p.m. Wednesday and did not reach a verdict by the end of the day. They are expected to resume Thursday morning, 3/12.
3/12/20 Thursday, Day 2 of Sanity Phase: No info available. Continues on 3/13.

 

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Guessing the jurors are still deliberating... ??

Anyone local? No breaking news?

 

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Bumping this up again! Any news? TIA!

 

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UPDATE: Jury goes home for weekend without reaching verdict in sanity phase of John Cowell murder trial. He killed Nia Wilson, 18, and injured her sister in unprovoked stabbing at MacArthur
@SFBART
Station in Oakland. Panel resumes deliberations on Monday

link: Henry K. Lee on Twitter

 

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Monday, March 16th:
*Jury Trial continues (Day 4)-Sanity Phase-Jury Deliberating (@ 9am PT) – CA – Nia Wilson (18) (July 22, 2018, MacArthur BART Station, Oakland; her sister Letifah (26) was injured) – *John Lee Cowell (27/now 28) arrested (7/23/18) & charged (7/25/18) with murder & attempted murder with special allegations of using a deadly weapon on each charge. Plead not guilty by reason of insanity. No bond. DA will not seek DP.
Trial began on 1/15/20 with jury selection. Trial started on 2/5/20 and ended on 3/10/20 with a guilty verdict. Sanity Phase started on 3/11/20.
Court hearings & trial (Days 1 to 13) info from 7/25/18 thru 3/10/20 reference post #105 here:
CA - Oakland, Nia Wilson stabbed to death on BART, sister injured, 22 Jul 2018 *Arrest*
3/11/20 Wednesday Day 1 of Sanity Phase: Neither the prosecution nor defense calling additional witnesses. Because sanity proceedings flip the burden of proof from prosecutors to the defense, it’s up to Cowell’s attorney, Christina Moore, to convince jurors her client, who has been diagnosed with schizophrenia, was disconnected from reality at the time of the offense. Moore had planned to introduce an expert witness who would have testified Wednesday that Cowell was legally insane at the time of the offense. But in a surprise hearing just hours before the second phase of the trial began, Judge Allan Hymer ruled that this witness would not be allowed to take the stand, Moore said. Instead, both Moore and prosecutor Butch Ford offered only brief closing statements, highlighting their key points in the trial. Jurors began deliberations at about 3:30 p.m. Wednesday and did not reach a verdict by the end of the day. They are expected to resume Thursday morning, 3/12.
3/12/20 Thursday, Day 2 of Sanity Phase: Jury continues deliberations. Continued on 3/13.
3/13/20 Friday Day 3 of Sanity Phase: Jury continued deliberations. No verdict yet. Continued to 3/16.

 

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Nia Wilson murder trial: John Lee Cowell ruled sane at time of attack, faces life in prison

March 16, 2020

The judge overseeing the Nia Wilson murder trial took an extraordinary step Monday by halting what would have been the third day of jury deliberations and rendering a verdict himself: John Lee Cowell was sane when he fatally stabbed the 18-year-old woman at an Oakland BART station in 2018.

Judge Allan Hymer’s verdict was announced in a closed Alameda County courtroom a day after Gov. Gavin Newsom directed people 65 and older to isolate themselves at home due to the coronavirus pandemic. Several of the 12 jurors — as well as Hymer — are over 65.
[.....]
Cowell will face mandatory life in prison without parole, Ford said. His sentencing is scheduled for April 14.

Defense attorney Christina Moore said she was “really disappointed” in the decision.

“I’m aware of no legal authority that allows a judge to take this from jurors after three days of deliberations,” she said.
[.....]
The jury of eight women and four men deliberated less than four hours March 10 before finding Cowell guilty on both counts, and it also upheld a special circumstance enhancement of lying in wait. The jurors did not uphold an enhancement of inflicting great bodily injury upon Letifah Wilson, whom Cowell stabbed in the neck.

Letifah Wilson on Monday tearfully thanked Ford, jurors and Judge Hymer for their consideration throughout the case.

 

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@tnith -

Hoping you will have time on Monday to check & see if his sentencing will still happen on 4/14. TIA!
Maybe a video teleconference hearing?

 

[Niner]

Well - since I haven't heard from @tnith yet - I shall post this - just in case there is a video teleconference to sentence him.
OR - if someone else reading here can access this:
Alameda County #18-CR-012613, #18-CR-016431 & #262135

Tuesday, April 14th:
*Sentencing Hearing (@ am PT) – CA – Nia Wilson (18) (July 22, 2018, MacArthur BART Station, Oakland; her sister Letifah (26) was injured) – *John Lee Cowell (27/now 28) arrested (7/23/18) & charged (7/25/18) with murder & attempted murder with special allegations of using a deadly weapon on each charge. Plead not guilty by reason of insanity. No bond. DA will not seek DP.
Trial began on 1/15/20 with jury selection. Trial started on 2/5/20 and ended on 3/10/20 with a guilty verdict. Sanity Phase started on 3/11/20 and ended on 3/16/20 with the Judge declaring Cowell sane.
Court hearings & trial (Days 1 to 13) info from 7/25/18 thru 3/10/20 & Sanity Phase (Day 1 to 2) 3/11/20 to 3/12/20 reference post #112 here:
CA - Oakland, Nia Wilson stabbed to death on BART, sister injured, 22 Jul 2018 *Arrest*
3/13/20 Friday Day 3 of Sanity Phase: Jury continued deliberations. No verdict yet. Continued to 3/16.
3/16/20 Monday Day 4 of Sanity Phase: The judge overseeing the Nia Wilson murder trial took an extraordinary step Monday by halting what would have been the third day of jury deliberations and rendering a verdict himself: John Lee Cowell was sane when he fatally stabbed the 18-year-old woman at an Oakland BART station in 2018. Judge Allan Hymer’s verdict was announced in a closed Alameda County courtroom a day after Gov. Gavin Newsom directed people 65 and older to isolate themselves at home due to the coronavirus pandemic. Several of the 12 jurors — as well as Hymer — are over 65. Cowell will face mandatory life in prison without parole, Ford said. His sentencing is scheduled for April 14.

 

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@YESorNO - I noticed way back when you found some articles on this case. Was wondering if you can find anything recent. I'm just coming up with articles from March, 2020.

TIA!

 

[Niner]

Well - since I haven't heard from @tnith yet - OR - if someone else reading here can access this:
Alameda County #18-CR-012613, #18-CR-016431 & #262135

Any word on his sentencing date? TIA!

Maybe @MsMarple ??

 

[Niner]

Nia Wilson’s killer slated to be sentenced after COVID-19 closed Oakland courthouse

May 28, 2020
OAKLAND, Calif. (KRON) — John Lee Cowell will be sentenced by an Alameda County judge next week for murdering Nia Wilson and attempting to kill her sister on a BART train.
The Oakland courthouse remains partially closed to the public because of COVID-19 and the June 5 sentencing hearing will likely be conducted remotely via a livestream, prosecutors told KRON4.

 

[Niner]

Friday, June 5th:
*Sentencing Hearing (@ am PT) – CA – Nia Wilson (18) (July 22, 2018, MacArthur BART Station, Oakland; her sister Letifah (26) was injured) – *John Lee Cowell (27/now 28) arrested (7/23/18) & charged (7/25/18) with murder & attempted murder with special allegations of using a deadly weapon on each charge. Plead not guilty by reason of insanity. No bond. DA will not seek DP.
Trial began on 1/15/20 with jury selection. Trial started on 2/5/20 and ended on 3/10/20 with a guilty verdict. Sanity Phase started on 3/11/20 and ended on 3/16/20 with the Judge declaring Cowell sane.
Court hearings & trial (Days 1 to 13) info from 7/25/18 thru 3/10/20 & Sanity Phase (Day 1 to 2) 3/11/20 to 3/12/20 reference post #112 here:
CA - Oakland, Nia Wilson stabbed to death on BART, sister injured, 22 Jul 2018 *Arrest*
3/13/20 Friday Day 3 of Sanity Phase: Jury continued deliberations. No verdict yet. Continued to 3/16.
3/16/20 Monday Day 4 of Sanity Phase: The judge overseeing the Nia Wilson murder trial took an extraordinary step Monday by halting what would have been the third day of jury deliberations and rendering a verdict himself: John Lee Cowell was sane when he fatally stabbed the 18-year-old woman at an Oakland BART station in 2018. Judge Allan Hymer’s verdict was announced in a closed Alameda County courtroom a day after Gov. Gavin Newsom directed people 65 and older to isolate themselves at home due to the coronavirus pandemic. Several of the 12 jurors — as well as Hymer — are over 65. Cowell will face mandatory life in prison without parole, Ford said. His sentencing is scheduled for April 14. Sentencing was cancelled due to COVID-19.
5/28/20 Update: Sentencing now scheduled for 6/5/20 will be via livestream.

 

[Niner]

Any news on his sentencing? Or too early? I'm just getting old articles.
@MsMarple ?? TIA!