Judge orders murder retrial, cites 'overwhelmed' PD who had 88 felony cases
A Maryland judge has cited the “untenable” caseload of a public defender in overturning the murder conviction of a defendant the PD represented at trial after juggling 88 felony cases in the previous six months.
Judge Michael Mason of Montgomery County ordered the retrial of Raminder Kaur, convicted in the shooting death of her husband’s ex-wife, the Washington Post reports. He ruled earlier this month.
Mason said Kaur wanted to testify that her husband, a biostatistician, had admitted he drugged Kaur and disguised himself as a woman to kill his ex-wife. Her public defender, however, didn’t allow the testimony, and that ban on testifying required a retrial, Mason said. Though the PD’s decision is the reason for the retrial, Mason commented about the big workload.
“I think this is an example of what happens when we ask the public defenders to do what we’re currently asking them to do. It’s untenable,” Mason said.
Police had found the murder weapon, hair dye and a wig in the car of Kaur and her husband, Baldeo Taneja, on Oct. 13, 2013, a day after Taneja’s ex-wife was fatally shot. Three witnesses had seen a woman near the ex-wife at the time of the shooting. Taneja, who was represented by a private lawyer, was also convicted in the same trial.
At trial, prosecutors introduced evidence that Kaur and Taneja had bought handguns together and that Taneja had taken a firearms class. Kaur’s public defender shifted strategy at trial and asserted that Taneja took the class with a different woman, but the strategy failed when prosecutors showed the different woman had an alibi on the day of the shooting.
Kaur told her public defender, Alan Drew, during the trial about her husband’s confession. Drew didn’t think the judge would allow Kaur to testify because her husband was being tried at the same time, Mason said. Drew also feared that Kaur wouldn’t do well on cross-examination, according to Mason. As a result, Drew did not allow the testimony, Mason’s opinion said.
“While there are some cases that you can try on the seat of your pants, a first-degree murder case is not one of those cases,” Mason said. “And I think Mr. Drew is a very good attorney. I think Mr. Drew cared a lot about his clients. I think, frankly, Mr. Drew was simply overwhelmed by the number of cases that he had.”
