Detroit Porch Killing Trial Begins
Last Monday jury selection, always the first event in a murder trial, got underway in the Wafer / McBride murder case. In this instance, Wayne County Circuit Judge Dana Hathaway said that the selection process could take as many as four days before the trial began, but thankfully, it took only two.
The jury of 12 will now hear the prosecution and the defense cases, in a trial that may last up to ten days. It will then be their duty to determine if Theodore Wafer is guilty of murder, or if he acted in self defense.
On November 2nd, 2013, 19-year-old Renisha McBride arrived unannounced on Wafer’s front porch in the early hours of the morning. She was very drunk – nearly three times the legal limit – and high on marijuana. She began to bang forcefully on his door.
Wafer, a 55-year-old resident of Dearborn Heights, woke up to the sound of someone pounding on his front door. He got out of bed, grabbed his shotgun, opened the front door, and shot McBride full in the face through the screen, killing her instantly.
According to Wafer’s attorney, Cheryl Carpenter, he was genuinely afraid for his life, and acted justifiably in defending it. In opening statements, she described for the jury his moments of panic, awakening to a thunderous pounding that “shook the floor and rattled the picture window” at 4 am.
He looked through a peephole and saw a shadowy figure move across the porch and along the side of the house. Convinced that there were multiple people outside attempting to get in, he grabbed his gun and loaded it. “What are you going to feel at that moment?” Carpenter asked, “Fear for your life that somebody’s about to come in!” He opened the door and fired.
“He feels horrible that a young lady is dead … his life is forever changed.” said Carpenter. According to the defense, it was never anything other than self-defense driven by fear.
At the center of this case is “Castle Doctrine” – a law that allows for use of deadly force if a person “honestly and reasonably” believes that their life, or the life of another person, is in danger. Under Michigan law, if someone truly believes that the threat of death, severe injury or rape is imminent, they may use deadly force.
Assistant Wayne County Prosecutor Danielle Hagaman-Clark, however, disagrees, calling Wafer’s actions “unnecessary, unjustified and unreasonable”. She told the jury that Wafer had other options.
The prosecution agrees that Wafer never intended to kill McBride, but it is their position that he could have acted differently. For example, he could have dialed 911 and called the police for help. According to Hagaman-Clark’s opening statement, Wafer knowingly created a situation in which “death or great bodily harm was likely to occur”.
“It’s the people’s position that taking a gun, having it loaded, having the safety off, opening a locked, secure door, jamming it in the face of an unarmed teenager and pulling the trigger is a situation that’s created and likely to cause great bodily harm.”
Right after the shot was fired, Wafer found his cell phone and called 911, in order to report what he had done.
Wafer has been charged with second-degree murder, manslaughter and felony use of a firearm. The trial will continue at 9am today (Thursday).