James Matthew Young
Upper Marlboro, MD — A three-judge panel has upheld the sentence of a Leonardtown man for the attempted second-degree murder of his fiancé. The judges sitting in Prince George’s County affirmed the 30-year jail term for James Young, 33. The sentence was imposed Aug. 18 of this year by Circuit Court Judge Karen Abrams.
Thirty years is the maximum sentence for the crime of second-degree (or unpremeditated) murder, although the state sentencing guidelines for the crime are four to nine years in prison. Judges can go above the advisory sentencing guidelines with mitigating circumstances, which in the particular case included the violence of the crime.
The incident occurred March 17, 2014 at an apartment on Washington Street in Leonardtown. When a state police trooper arrived on the scene he found the victim, Lashaun Hurley, with nine inches of the blade of a 10-inch knife in her back and the handle having been broken off and lying on the floor. The blade narrowly missed the woman’s lungs. Blood was all over the apartment.
The three-judge panel hearing the appeal were Prince George’s County Circuit Court Judges Crystal Mittelstaedt and John Davey and Charles County Circuit Court Judge Thomas Simpson, III. The judges concluded, “…Judge Abrams’ reason for departing from the sentencing guidelines are appropriate given the defendant was the cause of the harm, that the victim was stabbed with a large knife, and that the conduct was so vicious and heinous that it almost led to the victim’s death.”
According to charging documents in the case, when Maryland State Police Tfc. Pitcher arrived on the scene Hurley advised him “she knew the male subject was going to do something to her and knew he was going to try to kill her.”
In a 911 call by Young, the defendant threatened to kill himself for stabbing his girlfriend. Hurley also made a call to 911 saying she feared for her life.
According to the charging documents, Hurley told the state trooper about her boyfriend, “he had done things to her in the past but she had not reported them to the police.”
But the story changed dramatically at the Aug. 18 plea and sentencing hearing. Hurley blamed the incident on Young’s pain medication for a recent gall bladder operation. She said Young had treated her “like a princess” up to that time.
Young was represented by Waldorf attorney James Farmer. Assistant State’s Attorney Jaymi Sterling handled the case for the state. During the sentencing hearing, Sterling read portions of transcripts from numerous jailhouse calls by Young to Hurley in which he blamed her for what happened. While Sterling was reading the transcript Young kept interrupting saying, “I did not say that.” His attorney repeatedly told Young to “stop,” until Abrams ordered Young to shut up.
Sterling called the change of story by Hurley a part of the “cycle of violence.” The prosecutor said what Hurley said at the time of the incident was closer to the truth than the statement read to the court from Hurley. She said the changed statement was “fabricated” after the incident had been reflected upon.
Sterling said domestic violence is not what it is often portrayed. “Domestic violence is just the opposite of a momentary loss of temper. The abuser makes the decision to abuse. It’s an ongoing technique. It enforces control. They use fear and it’s just part of a pattern of abuse,” Sterling explained.
State psychiatrists had originally deemed Young not responsible for his actions but changed their minds after getting more information about the history of domestic abuse and also the jailhouse calls. But Farmer latched onto the earlier findings as part of the call for mitigation. He said Young “had a history of lifelong intellectual disabilities.” But he also noted that Young had worked at the base commissary before his diabetes forced him to leave the job.
Hurley in her written statement to the court asked for her boyfriend to be released, although his attorney asked for a sentence at the lower end of the guidelines. But Sterling told Judge Abrams, “The defendant is a ticking time bomb. If he’s released I am certain that he is going to kill Miss Hurley.”
The reaffirmation of Young’s 30-year jail sentence will insure he isn’t released any time soon.
Contact Dick Myers at dick.myers@thebaynet.com
