Criminal trials can take a lot of time to prepare for. Sometimes months — and sometimes even a year or two.
We’ve received some calls and emails to the newsroom about one particular case — State of Washington vs. Darlene Green — that you may recall is ongoing in Kitsap County Superior Court.
Green’s trial, after numerous delays — known as “continuances” in the criminal justice world — is now slated to start about two months from now, on Dec. 5.
Green is charged with the second-degree murder of her husband, William “Bill” Green. She was arrested by Kitsap County Sheriff’s deputies June 18, 2010, after she called her two sons to tell them she’d shot him, according to court documents. Deputies found the 81-year-old Bill Green dead in the living room of the couple’s Illahee Road home.
Green told deputies in an interview that she’d shot her husband because he told her to. Deputies had been called to their home for domestic violence issues in the past.
On Sept. 9, prosecutors filed an additional count of first-degree manslaughter to go with the murder charge.
From documents filed in the case, it appears that part of Green’s defense is that she had the victim’s consent — a point prosecutors say is not acceptable to raise at trial.
Deputy prosecutor Kevin Anderson argues that promoting a suicide attempt is itself a crime and is therefore not a valid defense.
“In a case where it is alleged that the defendant has shot the victim, may the victim raise as a defense that the victim consented to the shooting?” Anderson wrote in a court filing. “No, the consent, even if freely given is contrary to public policy.”
It looks as though the defense will file a brief on that issue as well, but it doesn’t appear to yet be in the court file.
Green posted $500,000 bail in November 2010 to remain out of custody prior to trial.
