La Plata, MD – As the first-degree murder trial of Caroline Marie Conway, 53 of Waldorf, prepares to enter its eighth day, the defense team of James Farmer and Melvin Allen clearly face an uphill battle.
Charles County States Attorney Tony Covington and Assistant States Attorney Francis Granados have spent the first six days of the trial laying out a wide array of evidence and a long list of witnesses in pressing their case against Conway for the May 20, 2015 shooting death of Robert Manges and the critical wounding of his wife.
While Farmer and Allen continue pushing forward with the defense that Conway was not in a reasonable state of mind when she took her son Richard Conway’s semi-automatic Smith & Wesson 40 caliber service revolver and shot the two people at the Rock ‘N’ Roll McDonald’s, the state has gone to great lengths to dispel that notion.
Jurors sat through a lengthy video last week of Conway being interviewed by Charles County Sheriff’s Office Detective John Elliott the night of the shooting. During that testimony, the jury got to see a calm, cool and collect Conway who talked with the detective at length about her grandchildren. It was as if they were two people meeting on a first date and sorting each other out as far as family and experiences.
The turd in the punch bowl, if you will, came when Elliott sought to broach the subject of the shooting. Conway is heard saying, “I didn’t do anything. When they went to arrest me, I told them, ‘You’re kidding me.’ I didn’t do anything,” she reasserted. Although their conversation was cordial throughout, at the end Elliott informed her that she was being charged with first-degree murder.
The state has pushed hard and pulled no punches in revealing to the jury their case. The defense team pushed back Tuesday, Dec.13 by bringing in Conway’s sister, Stardust Faci of Chicago, IL, who through tears recounted how their father was murdered when she was 5 and her sister 2.
From there they were ferried around from one relative to another. She told of how they were raped by their cousin. “I had just turned five,” Faci said. “Caroline was two-and-a-half.” Both defendant and witness were crying before testimony was done.
Faci said at one relatives’ residence she and her sister were beaten constantly by their older cousins. Her sister left for the military when she turned 19 to get away from her past, she testified. “I never witnessed Caroline in any violent activity,” Faci said. “She wouldn’t hurt a fly.”
Testimony from Conway’s oldest daughter about her mother brought a humorous objection from Covington. Moments of brevity have been few and far between during these proceedings. As Allen was going on and on about the family dog, the prosecutor interrupted.
“Your honor, I am going to object,” he told sitting judge Steven I. Platt. “I have a dog.”
The judge agreed.
Proceedings continue with more testimony Wednesday.
Contact Joseph Norris at joe.norris@thebaynet.com