2008 Woodie Awards
Southfield man convicted for murder of EMU student
By: U- WIRE
Issue date: 4/9/08 Section: Campus
ANN ARBOR, Mich. - Orange Taylor III, a 21-year-old man from Southfield, was found guilty Monday of killing Eastern Michigan University student Laura Dickinson in December 2006.
After about five hours of jury deliberations, Taylor was found guilty of first-degree felony murder, assault with intent to commit sexual penetration, first-degree home invasion and larceny in a building.
The sentencing is scheduled for May 7 at 9 a.m. A charge of first-degree felony murder brings a mandatory sentence of life in prison without parole.
The defense rested its case Friday.
This is the second time Taylor has stood trial for Dickinson's murder. In October, jurors told Judge Archie Brown, who presided over both trials, that they couldn't reach a verdict, leading the judge to declare a mistrial.
Though the prosecution's arguments were largely the same as in the last trial, jurors reached a decision within a few hours. In October, it took three days for jurors to announce the deadlock.
Alvin Keel, Taylor's defense attorney in the first trial, withdrew from the case in December because Taylor's family could no longer afford his services. Assistant Public Defender Laura Graham represented Taylor in the retrial, which began March 31.
There were no apparent differences in prosecution's approach from the first trial to the second one.
As in the first trial, Michelle Lockwood, a custodian who worked in Dickinson's building, testified that she found Dickinson naked below the waist and lying down in her dorm room Dec. 16, 2006. She said she followed an odor to Dickinson's room and found the woman lying on the floor, apparently dead.
"I backed up and called the police," Lockwood said.
Assistant Prosecutor Blaine Longsworth called several witnesses who had seen Dickinson's body shortly after it was found. During cross-examination of these witnesses, Graham suggested there were no signs that a physical struggle occurred in Dickinson's room.
After about five hours of jury deliberations, Taylor was found guilty of first-degree felony murder, assault with intent to commit sexual penetration, first-degree home invasion and larceny in a building.
The sentencing is scheduled for May 7 at 9 a.m. A charge of first-degree felony murder brings a mandatory sentence of life in prison without parole.
The defense rested its case Friday.
This is the second time Taylor has stood trial for Dickinson's murder. In October, jurors told Judge Archie Brown, who presided over both trials, that they couldn't reach a verdict, leading the judge to declare a mistrial.
Though the prosecution's arguments were largely the same as in the last trial, jurors reached a decision within a few hours. In October, it took three days for jurors to announce the deadlock.
Alvin Keel, Taylor's defense attorney in the first trial, withdrew from the case in December because Taylor's family could no longer afford his services. Assistant Public Defender Laura Graham represented Taylor in the retrial, which began March 31.
There were no apparent differences in prosecution's approach from the first trial to the second one.
As in the first trial, Michelle Lockwood, a custodian who worked in Dickinson's building, testified that she found Dickinson naked below the waist and lying down in her dorm room Dec. 16, 2006. She said she followed an odor to Dickinson's room and found the woman lying on the floor, apparently dead.
"I backed up and called the police," Lockwood said.
Assistant Prosecutor Blaine Longsworth called several witnesses who had seen Dickinson's body shortly after it was found. During cross-examination of these witnesses, Graham suggested there were no signs that a physical struggle occurred in Dickinson's room.
Be the first to comment on this story