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Convicted teen appeals murder case

Attorney seeks new trial for manslaughter, calling stabbing at football game an act of self-defense

Wednesday, Sept. 6, 2006

The teenager convicted of fatally stabbing 15-year-old Kanisha Neal of Rockville outside of a high school football game last fall is seeking to overturn her second-degree murder sentence.

Stephen B. Mercer of Rockville, the attorney for the convicted Sherwood High School student, filed an appeal with the state Court of Special Appeals on Thursday seeking a new trial for manslaughter.

The appeal states that Montgomery County Circuit Judge Terrence J. McGann’s rulings misinterpreted state law.

The teen’s name is not being published because she was tried as a juvenile.

A spokeswoman for the Maryland Attorney General’s Office could not confirm receipt of the appeal, saying on Tuesday the paperwork might not have caught up with that office yet.

Neal was killed during a fistfight that turned into a stabbing in the parking lot outside of a Friday night game at James Hubert Blake High School in Cloverly.

The Sherwood student, also 15 years old at the time of the fight, was sent to a maximum-security juvenile facility. Under state law, she was not sentenced to a fixed amount of time, but can be detained until she turns 21.

The appeal states that the defendant feared for her life during the fatal fight with Neal, echoing a key position made by the defense during the trial. Since the trial, the teen’s family replaced the original attorney with Mercer.

The defendant was acting in self-defense and should not have been tried for second-degree murder, a more serious charge, the court document states.

‘‘A partial self-defense is essentially a mistake-of-fact defense where a person honestly, but mistakenly, believes him or herself to be in imminent danger of bodily harm ...,” the appeal states.

At the very least, the court should have bumped the charge down to manslaughter, according to the appeal.

Throughout the trial the defendant pleaded self-defense, claiming Neal and others were beating her so badly during the Sept. 23 parking lot brawl that she had to use a knife.

‘‘In the most precious stage of her life, the respondent was faced with either death or serious bodily injury and had no choice but to defend herself,” according to a statement issued by the defendant’s family on the day of the sentencing in January.

In his December decision, McGann did not accept the argument, citing witnesses that said it was a one-on-one fistfight between Neal and the defendant.

The defendant also was convicted of carrying a concealed weapon and carrying a deadly weapon on school property. The appeal is also seeking to overturn the two weapons-related char-ges. In cases like this, the Attorney General’s Office will have 30 days to respond to the appeal.

Montgomery County Assistant State’s Attorney Debra Grimes said appeals in cases like this are standard.

‘‘We’d find it unusual if they didn’t appeal this,” Grimes said.