Here is an interesting directed verdict case involving a [self defense] stabbing that resulted in death.
Murder suspect acquitted of McClellanville stabbing
December 9th, 2012
Tyrone Winslow Jr. spent two years in jail waiting for a trial that, by all accounts, never should have happened.
The 21-year-old McClellanville man never denied stabbing a man to death in 2010, but he had claimed self-defense.
He was acquitted last week on a murder charge, and the courtroom consensus was that he should have been exonerated all along.
While prosecutors and defense attorneys disagree on the evidence and the reason for Winslows extended incarceration, there was one inescapable fact that both sides agreed on Winslow did not commit murder.
Winslow had faced a trial after killing 27-year-old Matthew Jerome Williams outside Club 17 North off U.S. Highway 17 near McClellanville.
Winslows jail stay ended Thursday when Circuit Judge Stephanie McDonald issued a directed verdict in his favor in a courtroom in Charleston.
[...]
And an interesting blog article by Myrtle Beach Defense Attorney,
Bobby G. Frederick...
Directed verdict of acquittal in Charleston murder trial
December 9, 2012 3 Comments Written by Bobby G. Frederick
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BBM
Until the case comes to trial, no one has the power to dismiss the charges and release a person except the prosecutor. The prosecutor is the only party responsible for bringing the case to trial,
and responsible for the delay in bringing a case to trial. It does highlight the need for a change it illustrates why prosecutor control of the docket is unfair.
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Whether to trust a prosecutor to dismiss a case in the interest of justice based on exculpatory evidence uncovered by the defense is a judgment call that will depend on the strength of the evidence, the politics involved in a particular case, who the prosecutor is and what that prosecutors (or their office) track record is in prior cases. Also, what does it say about the Ninth Circuit Solicitors Office and the Ninth Circuit Public Defenders Office when the public defender does a better job investigating than the Solicitor and Sheriffs office combined?
