“Road Rage” Murder Trial Delayed to July
Trial now scheduled to start July 21; jury selection on July 18.
The “road rage” murder trial of NJ Detective Joseph Lamont Walker, charged with first degree murder for the road-side shooting death of Joseph Dean Harvey, Jr., originally scheduled to begin today, has been pushed back two months until Monday, July 21, 2014. Jury selection is now scheduled to begin on Friday, July 18, 2014.
Legal Insurrection has previously covered this case extensively, including at the links below. We’re also preparing a comprehensive overview of Maryland laws governing self-defense and defense of others to provide a robust and common foundation for discussion of the case as the trial proceeds.
As it happens, Maryland is among the minority of states that has effectively no self-defense statutes,. Instead, the laws governing use of force reside entirely in court decisions. This makes accessing MD self-defense law rather difficult for non-lawyers, a difficulty we will try to address with our MD self-defense law overview.
Here’s the link dump of our prior coverage of the Joseph Walker “road rage” murder case:
“Road Rage” Murder Trial: Motion to Dismiss, Grand Jury Testimony
“Road Rage” Murder Trial: Witness Arrives After Harvey Down
“Road Rage” Murder Trial: Witness Says Walker Shot Stopped Harvey ~40′ Away
“Road Rage” Murder Trial: Witness Provides Confusing, Mistaken Testimony
“Road Rage” Murder Trial: Witness Provides Confusing, Mistaken Testimony
“Road Rage” Murder Trial: Walker Appeared to Goad Harvey: “Come on.”
“Road Rage” Murder Trial: Off-duty Cop’s Roadside Statement
Off-duty cop “Road Rage” 911 call: “I had to fire my weapon.”
Off-duty cop “Road Rage” 911 call: “They were going to fight on side of road”
Witness says off-duty “Road Rage” cop not aggressor in Maryland shooting
Off-Duty Cop “Road Rage” Case: Cracks Appear in Prosecution Narrative
Off-duty “Road Rage” Cop lawyer: Grand Jury given “materially false and misleading testimony”
Off-Duty Cop Road Rage Murder Trial – next big self-defense case
–-Andrew, @LawSelfDefense
Andrew F. Branca is an MA lawyer and the author of the seminal book “The Law of Self Defense, 2nd Edition,” available at the Law of Self Defense blog, Amazon.com (paperback and Kindle), Barnes & Noble (paperback and Nook), and elsewhere.
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Comments
What was the reason for the trial delay?
Well, if memory serves, the defense asked for a delay.
My thought at the time was, “If they had a defense, they had had time to prepare it”.
But there is very little for a court to gain by denying such a request, and they usually find they have plenty to do.
Beyond that…dunno…
Let’s say Walker is acquitted on all counts.
How deeply in debt is he gonna be because of this whole thing ?
IIRC, the police union is paying for his defense.
Even though off-duty and out of state ?
The National Police Defense Foundation is also helping to pay for Walker’s defense.
From Walker’s lawyers: “Since the shooting, Det. Walker has been suspended without pay, and is unable to pay for the legal costs and expenses to defend himself against the murder charge which carries a sentence of life imprisonment. As a result, Det. Walker is being assisted with the payment of legal fees and expenses by both the National Police Defense Foundation, led by Executive Director Joseph Occhipinti, and by the New Jersey State Policeman’s Benevolent Association, led by President Anthony Wieners.”
Additionally, the NPDF has set up a donation page on their website for Walker.
OMG ! An actual actual informative answer ! Thank you !
Better question…
Will Walker’s survivors sue in a civil action?
Heh!
What, is he dead ?
Names curse…
But you knew who I meant. Also, if you read Andrew’s links, you know who’s paying the freight.
And maybe you would have gotten the name right.
Nope. But I don’t ask stupid questions when the information is right in front of me.
I just have a lot of trouble with names. Always have…
I hope so.
I’m very much looking forward to your coverage of this trial, Andrew!
MD is the land of good gummint. If there is no law on self-defense, there may be no self-defense as a practical matter.
When animal-rights nuts burglarized a laboratory and ruined millions of dollars worth of equipment and experiments, there was this campaign to outlaw burglaries of research facilities, as if burglary itself were not a crime, and the resulting civil suit and damage award would be insufficient.
Oh, Maryland has PLENTY of law on self-defense, and it’s pretty mainstream (allowing that the “duty to retreat” element is pretty mainstream for the minority of states that impose a duty to retreat). Far more mainstream than, say, Ohio. And in some respects more so than even VA.
It’s just that it’s embodied in case law, not statute.
–Andrew, @LawSelfDefense
I’ll be in the lobby making book on this trial beginning June 1.
Has the trial Court rules on Walker’s Motion to Dismiss?
Yep, it was denied back in February. The judge ruled that while the prosecution may have been somewhat misleading it wasn’t enough to reverse the decision and there was still reason to proceed. He also ordered both sides to no longer talk to the press, if I remember correctly.
You said “Nope. But I don’t ask stupid questions when the information is right in front of me.”
Right after you said “Also, if you read Andrew’s links, you know who’s paying the freight.”
Maybe if *YOU* ‘read Andrew’s links’, you would know whose name he was talking about.
How long do you want to keep this up ? What are you, a politician, looking to re-direct the conversation after a question about *your* screwup ?
I know the names. I just have a curse. You can find it elsewhere.
You’re a jerk. Which I find elsewhere. As here.
Stick it. Sideways.
Very mature reaction. As expected from you.
OMG, are you two old ladies still at it? 😉
I think it’s well past time for them to get themselves a room.
O_0
There’s a complete difference between not knowing the names and getting them reversed. Heh. It was Harvey who did the “walking”, so there you have it. 🙂
Now, go find something more important to say or do. You’re being petty.
Thank you.
I made a small joke, he reacted with a load of shit.
Don’t like it ? Talk to him about it.
Girls, girls. Time for a pillow fight. 🙂
–Andrew, @LawSelfDefense
Pillow fight ! Pillow fight !
🙂
I hope Miley Cyrus isn’t invited.
But definitely Kate Upton, in a very very sheer negligee that’s two sizes too small and tears very easily.
Get your mind out of the gutter.
Its crowded enough down here already.