Inmate to use self-defense assertion in prison murder trial
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Court records say a man accused of killing another inmate at the Iowa State Penitentiary plans to assert self-defense during his murder trial.
The records say Lha Southideth-Whiten has pleaded not guilty to second-degree murder in the slaying of Michael Whitworth during an Oct. 20 altercation in the Fort Madison prison's cafeteria. The Hawk Eye newspaper in Burlington reports that Southideth-Whiten's trial is scheduled to begin Aug. 29.
A criminal complaint says Southideth-Whiten punched Whitworth, knocking him to the cafeteria floor, and continued to hit his face and head even though Whitworth was bleeding heavily and appeared to be unconscious.
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Authorities say the 46-year-old Whitworth died 10 days later at a hospital. An autopsy ruled his death a homicide caused by blunt force trauma.