Defense Hopes 'Cops' Video Will Show Murder Defendant’s Troubled Upbringing
Defense lawyers hope an episode of Cops will help their client avoid the death sentence in the abduction and murder of a Texas woman.
The defendant, Nicholas-Michael Edwin Jean, pleaded guilty to the crime and hopes to receive a life sentence rather than the death penalty, the Houston Chronicle reports. His lawyers are asking a judge to allow them to show an episode of the Cops TV show that showed Jean as a confused toddler watching police question his grandmother about a domestic dispute.
Jean’s grandmother told police that her husband had threatened her at gunpoint and struck her in the head, the story says. Jean is 2 years old at the time, and he is shown standing outside the house with his grandmother. As the cameras are rolling, Jean’s grandfather is arrested.
Judge Patrick Sebesta and lawyers in the case viewed the video when the jurors were out of the courtroom. He is weighing whether to allow the video, the Chronicle reported on Tuesday evening.
