Jurors convict man of attempted murder

Panel splits on more serious first-degree charge from stabbing wife

Friday, Nov. 20, 2009

St. Mary's jurors convicted a Hermanville area man Wednesday of attempted second-degree murder and assault charges from a stabbing injury to his wife last spring.

The panel members could not reach a unanimous verdict on a charge of attempted first-degree murder during about eight hours of deliberations on the verdict against 45-year-old Francis Matthew Carter.

During Wednesday's closing arguments, a prosecutor rejected Carter's claim that he could not remember stabbing his wife, based on the defendant's detailed recollections of what happened before and after the April 19 incident at the couple's apartment.

"He was doing what he had thought about doing for months," St. Mary's Assistant State's Attorney Christina Taylor said. "We know he remembers that moment, too."

The prosecutor said that Carter's comments in phone conversations after his arrest refuted his claim in court that he was too intoxicated when the wound was inflicted to remember what happened.

Delores Carter, 47, testified earlier this week that she told her husband last year that she wanted to end their marriage, and that after he stabbed her in the chest, he questioned her about an extramarital relationship before he eventually drove her to St. Mary's Hospital. A doctor testified that the injured woman would have died if she had not received emergency surgery at the Washington Hospital Center.

Sean Moran, Francis Carter's public defender, told jurors on Wednesday that his client committed a "reckless act," but that it happened quickly and without an intent to kill the woman.

"People tend to overreact when they're drinking," Moran said. "The one issue that can push somebody to that point is adultery. Sounds like there was a little bit of taunting from her to him."

During the deliberations, the jury's foreman issued notes to the courtroom seeking further information about the defendant's recorded phone conversations made from the county jail and their transcripts admitted as evidence. The foreman eventually wrote that the panel was "not close to a unanimous" verdict on the charge of attempted first-degree murder after discussions about the issue of premeditation.

"We are not able to move past our split," the foreman wrote after the panel had been behind closed doors for about seven hours. The judge received the verdicts on the other charges about an hour later.

A conviction for attempted first-degree murder carries a maximum penalty of life in prison. The maximum penalty for attempted second-degree murder is 30 years in prison.

Carter was jailed to await the results of a presentence investigation.

jwharton@somdnews.com