Lyman jury retires for day without verdict
By Nick Hytrek Journal staff writer | Posted: Thursday, October 25, 2007
SIOUX CITY -- During his opening statement to jurors, public defender Mike Williams told them they would be hearing a lot of complicated testimony and that finding the truth would not be easy.
His words turned out to be prophetic, as the eight women and four men charged with deciding the June Lyman murder case were unable to reach a verdict Wednesday after more than four hours of deliberations.
They will resume their discussions at 10 a.m. today.
Lyman, 64, is charged in Woodbury County District Court with first-degree murder for the May 15, 2006, shooting death of her husband, 64-year-old Leo Lyman, in their Anthon, Iowa, home.
Williams and Assistant Woodbury County Attorney Terry Ganzel on Wednesday made their final cases to the jury, each saying during his closing argument that the case was clear.
"She fires a gun. Is there proof that the state brought to your table that June Lyman intended to commit any crime?" Williams said. "I say no. She was not in her right mind at the time."
During his case, Williams called psychologists and psychiatrists who testified that the combination of prescription medications, alcohol, stress, a brain injury and a type of post traumatic stress disorder caused by domestic abuse from her first marriage caused Lyman to lose control of her actions when she was presented with a confusing situation.
They said Lyman wasn't aware she was shooting her husband as she responded to seeing him waving his arms while approaching her after she asked how to take the safety off her .38-caliber revolver.
"You've got to find she didn't have the specific intent to do anything," Williams said.
Ganzel called Lyman the luckiest woman in the world.
"All these things had to align in this particular point in time so she could shoot a person she hated and not be at fault," Ganzel said.
Lyman had time to think between each of the four shots she fired, Ganzel said. She even left one round in the gun, realizing that her husband was dead and she didn't need to keep shooting.
"So what does that mean? It means she knew what she was doing," Ganzel said. "If she really doesn't know what's going on, wouldn't she have fired all five shots?"
Ganzel dismissed the expert testimony as a group of people advocating on Lyman's behalf.
Williams said Ganzel made no attempt to call his own witnesses to rebut the experts' opinions.
"The state had every opportunity to bring in anyone in the world to say they were all wet," Williams said. "There was not a word. June Lyman is not guilty."
If found guilty as charged, Lyman would receive a mandatory sentence of life in prison without parole.
If the jury decides she is not guilty of first-degree murder, it can convict her of a lesser crime of second-degree murder, voluntary manslaughter, willful injury, involuntary manslaughter, assault causing serious injury, assault with intent to inflict serious injury or simple assault. Prison sentences for those charges range from 50 years to 30 days.
Nick Hytrek can be reached at 712-293-4226 or nickhytrek@siouxcityjournal.com.
His words turned out to be prophetic, as the eight women and four men charged with deciding the June Lyman murder case were unable to reach a verdict Wednesday after more than four hours of deliberations.
They will resume their discussions at 10 a.m. today.
Lyman, 64, is charged in Woodbury County District Court with first-degree murder for the May 15, 2006, shooting death of her husband, 64-year-old Leo Lyman, in their Anthon, Iowa, home.
Williams and Assistant Woodbury County Attorney Terry Ganzel on Wednesday made their final cases to the jury, each saying during his closing argument that the case was clear.
"She fires a gun. Is there proof that the state brought to your table that June Lyman intended to commit any crime?" Williams said. "I say no. She was not in her right mind at the time."
During his case, Williams called psychologists and psychiatrists who testified that the combination of prescription medications, alcohol, stress, a brain injury and a type of post traumatic stress disorder caused by domestic abuse from her first marriage caused Lyman to lose control of her actions when she was presented with a confusing situation.
They said Lyman wasn't aware she was shooting her husband as she responded to seeing him waving his arms while approaching her after she asked how to take the safety off her .38-caliber revolver.
"You've got to find she didn't have the specific intent to do anything," Williams said.
Ganzel called Lyman the luckiest woman in the world.
"All these things had to align in this particular point in time so she could shoot a person she hated and not be at fault," Ganzel said.
Lyman had time to think between each of the four shots she fired, Ganzel said. She even left one round in the gun, realizing that her husband was dead and she didn't need to keep shooting.
"So what does that mean? It means she knew what she was doing," Ganzel said. "If she really doesn't know what's going on, wouldn't she have fired all five shots?"
Ganzel dismissed the expert testimony as a group of people advocating on Lyman's behalf.
Williams said Ganzel made no attempt to call his own witnesses to rebut the experts' opinions.
"The state had every opportunity to bring in anyone in the world to say they were all wet," Williams said. "There was not a word. June Lyman is not guilty."
If found guilty as charged, Lyman would receive a mandatory sentence of life in prison without parole.
If the jury decides she is not guilty of first-degree murder, it can convict her of a lesser crime of second-degree murder, voluntary manslaughter, willful injury, involuntary manslaughter, assault causing serious injury, assault with intent to inflict serious injury or simple assault. Prison sentences for those charges range from 50 years to 30 days.
Nick Hytrek can be reached at 712-293-4226 or nickhytrek@siouxcityjournal.com.
Story Comments
Read More and Post Comments 0 comment(s)
Please note: The following are comments from readers. In no way do they represent the views of The Sioux City Journal or Lee Enterprises. We will not edit or alter your comments, but we do reserve the right to not post or to remove comments that violate our code of conduct. No comment may contain potentially libelous statements; obscene, explicit or racist language; personal attacks, insults or threats. Terms of Service
