Nashville lawyer acquitted of murder in husband's shooting

Started by gentlegiant, Apr 23, 2007, 09:17 AM

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gentlegiant

http://www.courttv.com/trials/mercer/040207_verdict_ctv.html?cnn=yes

What do they call it when this happens?


Quote
By Harry Swartz-Turfle
Court TV
NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- Hope Mercer says she had only one thing in her mind before the verdict was read in her murder trial.

"No weapon formed against you shall prosper."

As Mercer thought about this verse from the book of Isaiah, a Nashville jury pronounced her not guilty in the 2005 shooting death of her attorney husband, Joseph Mercer III.

Mercer, 34, began sobbing when the verdict was read. She clasped her hands to her face as her curly red hair spilled onto the defense table. She was free. (VIDEO)

Two hours after the verdict, Mercer was giddy.

Story continues



"Today I got some closure," Mercer said in an interview with Court TV, "and now I can think about tomorrow."

Prosecutors charged Hope Mercer with second-degree murder, saying she intentionally shot her husband during a bitter divorce argument. Mercer told investigators that her husband died after the two struggled over a handgun and it accidentally went off.

Mercer said she was sleeping in the couple's home at midnight April 16, 2005, when her husband burst into the locked bedroom and demanded that she move out of the home immediately. She said he began throwing clothes and jewelry from her closet, looking for her car keys, so he could take her car away.

He returned to the bedroom holding a .22-caliber handgun, she said.

When he put the gun on a dresser, she either grabbed it or put her hand on it, and when he lunged forward, it fired, hitting him in the neck, she claimed.

Davidson County prosecutors argued that the bullet wound and gun's operation proved the shooting could not have been an accident, although no motive was ever presented to the jury.

Mercer rejected plea deal offers made by prosecutors before the trial.

"We always knew it would come out this way if we found 12 good people," her attorney Hal Hardin said Monday.

Dumaka Shabazz, the co-counsel who delivered Mercer's closing argument, said the prosecution simply didn't have a case.

"They put on three expert witnesses and those witnesses testified for us," said Shabazz, referring to experts who failed to rule out accidental death. "Their expert witnesses were our expert witnesses."

The Davidson County district attorney's office released a statement after the verdict affirming its respect for the jury's decision, saying, "We have faith in the judicial system."

Hardin, who was appointed U.S. attorney by President Jimmy Carter and once taught Hope Mercer's criminal law class at the Nashville School of Law, appeared proud of his client and former student as she spoke after the verdict.

Mercer said she plans to continue practicing law, although she's "less idealistic" about the system having been a defendant.

She also plans to change her last name back to her maiden name.

"It's the beginning," she said.

Video of the verdict will be available Tuesday on Court TV
Falsely accused and maliciously prosecuted.

CaptDMO

Welllllll, alrighty then!

On The Other Hand-
I wasn't there. As repulsive as I may find the outcome,
before a jury of her peers means something.
So be it!

Case closed!

Libertariandadd

Im wondering how often the juries are successfully stacked in any given trial. You see it in the OJ Simpson trial, the Scott Peterson trial and the sexual harrassment trail against Vons Supermarket by Gloria Allred. Must be the oldest trick in the book.  :BangHead:
'It was always the women, and above all the young ones, who were the most bigoted adherents of the Party, the swallowers of slogans, the amateur spies and nosers-out of unorthodoxy.' George Orwell, Nineteen Eighty-Four

oz615

I seriously need to get the **** out of Nashville.
en are people too

dr e

Quote
When he put the gun on a dresser, she either grabbed it or put her hand on it, and when he lunged forward, it fired, hitting him in the neck, she claimed.


"it fired"  whoa nelly.  IT fired.  That thar gun has a mind of its own.

:pino:
Contact dr e  Lifeboats for the ladies and children, icy waters for the men.  Women have rights and men have responsibilties.

The Biscuit Queen

Quote
Mercer said she plans to continue practicing law, although she's "less idealistic" about the system having been a defendant.


She got off scott free! How more idealistic can you freaking get?!
he Biscuit Queen
www.thebiscuitqueen.blogspot.com

There are always two extremes....the truth lies in the middle.

TheManOnTheStreet

Love it.  Not only are we telling women that they can ruin mens lives with false accusations, we are now telling them how to kill men and get away with it.  The gun just went off!  From this day forward, this shall be so named "The Winkler Defense".

TMOTS
The Man On The Street is on the street for a reason.......
_________________________________
It's not illegal to be male.....yet.

Jessiemonster

#7
Jan 11, 2017, 09:21 AM Last Edit: Jan 11, 2017, 09:34 AM by Jessiemonster
It's been over a decade since this tragedy. Joe Mercer III was my lawyer and a friend. Many would say he was a hotheaded man with a love for guns and a bit rigid with his son, previous wife and Hope. There had been previous restraining orders against him but he would violate them and have them removed from his files. It only because his father and the entire Mercer family who was connected to fbi and court system who received special favors...all the favors. People broke into Hopes house to frighten her and so if you want to talk about stacking the jury, most definitely it was too her detriment and not her advantage. There was a standard jury selection process and the DA wanted to take Ms Mercer down. She was innocent. Hope was leaving Joe the next day. She wanted a divorce and since she signed a prenuptial agreement there simply was no motive gor her to kill him. She wouldn't get a dime. The night he died he was calling her frantically accusing her of screwing around yet she and her mother were in line at the post office trying to make the 12 midnight cutoff for tax submission. Prior to that her and her mother had dinner. As for the gun, it belonged to Joe's father or grandfather and the serial numbers had been filed down and the hammer had been modified with a hair trigger. There are pictures of where Joe broke down the door in the guest room. He had the phones hidden   (one cordless wrapped in an ace bandage.) Joe was a testosterone junky so  raging wad normal for Joe. Bullying Hope was a routine.
This is all verifiable in the court records. He was a narcissist, abuser and womanizer. He brought his own gun to a fight and lost.

dr e

The Jury was stacked by Gynocentrism.  He may have been a real PIA but the fact is, his side will never be told.
Contact dr e  Lifeboats for the ladies and children, icy waters for the men.  Women have rights and men have responsibilties.

Jessiemonster

It's been over a decade since this tragedy. Joe Mercer  III was my lawyer and a friend. Many would say he was hot-headed, with a love for guns, CONTROLLING, rigid and unrelenting with his son Joe, his previous wife and Hope. He was a expert in The Prince Machivelli philosophy (read the book). He turned me on to a website called Hedweb which was truly bizzare stuff on hedonism. He was an atheist. Hope had  previous restraining orders against him but as usual, he would violate them and have them removed from his files. It was only because of who he was and who his father and the entire Mercer family was ( father connected to FBI and Board of Professional Responsibility) that this trial even occurred. Joe was the one heavily connected to the court system not Hope. It was Joe Mercer who would lie, use and abuse women and once even ordered a girl to get an abortion. He would get caught cheating  on his girlfriend's and when they dumped him, he would rage. He received special favors when his office was on Gay St. Let's be honest.He's been dead long enough.  People broke into Hopes house to frighten her and so if you want to talk about stacking the jury, most definitely it was too her detriment and the Mercer families advantage. There was a standard jury selection process and the DA wanted to take Ms Mercer down. She was innocent. Hope was leaving Joe the next day. She had bought a new Toyota so she  could leave the Jaguar behind. She wanted the divorce and it was supposed to be simple as they had no children together and since she signed a prenuptial agreement she simply wanted out and there was no motive for her to kill him. She wouldn't get a dime. The night he died he was calling her frantically over and over. He was angry because she  wouldn't take his calls. He was leaving awful messages accusing her of screwing around yet she and her mother were in line at the post office trying to make the April 15, 12 midnight cutoff for tax submission. Prior to that her and her mother had dinner. As for the gun, it belonged to Joe's father or grandfather and the serial numbers had been filed down and the hammer had been modified with a hair trigger. There are pictures of where Joe broke down the door in the guest room. He had the phones hidden (one cordless wrapped in an ace bandage.) Joe was a testosterone and porn junky.
This is all verifiable in the court records. He was a narcissist, abuser and womanizer. He brought his own gun to a fight and he lost.

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