A judge on Friday granted the defense attorney for a Concord man accused of fatally stabbing 18-year-old Nia Wilson at the MacArthur BART station in Oakland last year permission to file a motion to dismiss the case under seal.
John Lee Cowell, 29, is charged with murder and attempted murder for allegedly stabbing Wilson and her sister, 26-year-old Letifah Wilson, on the platform at the MacArthur station at 9:36 p.m. on July 22, 2018.
Cowell also is charged with a special circumstance allegation that he killed Wilson while lying in wait, a charge that could have resulted in the death penalty if he’s convicted in a criminal trial.
However, prosecutors said in August that they won’t seek the death penalty against Cowell and instead will focus on convicting him and having him sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
Cowell’s attorney Christina Moore asked that she be allowed to file her motion to set aside the grand jury indictment against him under seal because it contains potentially prejudicial information.
Moore wrote in court papers that “there is a reasonable likelihood that making all or any part of the motion public will prejudice the defendant’s (Cowell’s) rights to due process and to a fair and impartial trial.”
The defense attorney said it’s highly likely that if the motion isn’t filed under seal exhibits that would be inadmissible at a trial “will be discussed, quoted, and written about in the media.”
Moore said such a result would interfere with Cowell’s ability to get a fair and impartial trial because potential jurors would be exposed to inadmissible evidence.
Moore said the exhibits she doesn’t want to be made public are the transcript of the grand jury proceeding in the case, a police report and the transcript of an audio recording, which she said are hearsay documents that wouldn’t be admissible at a trial. A judge previously sealed the transcript of the grand jury hearing.
However, she said she isn’t asking for a closed hearing when the motion to dismiss is debated and ruled on.
Alameda County Superior Court Judge Kevin Murphy gave permission to Moore to filed the motion under seal, saying Cowell’s right to have a fair trial outweighs the public’s right to see the motion.
Murphy then scheduled the hearing on the motion to dismiss for Nov. 22. Cowell also is scheduled to enter a plea on that date, as the motion to dismiss can’t be heard until after he enters a plea.
Superior Court Judge James Cramer suspended the criminal proceedings against Cowell last Dec. 27, saying there was “substantial evidence” that he’s mentally incompetent to stand trial.
But at a hearing on July 17 Cramer reinstated the criminal proceedings against Cowell, based in part on a recent doctor’s report that found that Cowell is now competent to stand trial.
10 comments
You know what else isn’t fair? An 18 year old girl was fatally stabbed and her sister had to watch her die because of this man… I hope he never sees the light of day
Mental health issues are real. He should receive help not punishment.
Mental issues or not this man is a detriment to our society.
Put him to death, sell his organs, give the proceeds to the family of the deceased, and save the taxpayers millions of dollars.
You are absolutely correct. He should be imprisoned or institutionalized for the rest of his life. Mental health issues or not he needs to be removed from society.
If you can tie your shoes and know how to find BART and stand around and wait for someone to kill you’re certainly sane enough to stand trial. This insanity BS is just that BS. He knew to take a knife and not a spoon.
Yes, I agree, he should be punished for what he did even locked away for life.
But he would not have been able to do it if he had not been released from psych hospital a short time before.
He has been institutionalized and on antipsychotic drugs since he was young.
Something he has in common with most of the “mass shooters” is psych meds. Look into the side effects from the meds, they are as bad or worse than the condition they are supposed to treat.
Another example of how our justice system is a complete joke! Whether it was mental illness, drugs or pure evil this guy should’ve been executed on the BART platform. What a waste of time, money and police resources. Turn him over to the girls family for execution and donate his organs
I love “kiss from a rose”. But damn you seal, why are you doing this? This P.O.S. needs to die. Mental health is a major problem, I agree, but when it reaches this point, off with his head!
This guy is beyond repair and shouldnt be allowed any where near children, but we shouldnt have too pay for his care as well sorry to say but people like this need to be put down like a rabid dog
This whole situation is so sad. There is more than one life lost here. I knew this boy when he was younger and knew his Family as well. The system is what failed here. I dont have the solution, I wish I did but until you have a Family member with a severe mental illness you will never understand the frustration and fear. When a loved one is not thinking right and not on their meds and they are an adult…there is nothing you can do. There is nothing the Police will do. You have to wait until the law is broken and somebody usually gets hurt. Who in their right mind commits such an act and then hops on BART the following day? Somebody out of their mind! I am not taking away from the loss of the young Woman I just hate all the bashing. That is not the only life lost and it will happen again until there is a solution. The world needs more love, less hate.
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