SALEM, Mass. – Lawyers for a Massachusetts woman charged with slashing her children's throats and setting fire to their apartment told a judge they plan to argue to a jury that she was mentally ill and not criminally responsible.
Tanicia Goodwin's lawyers appeared in court Tuesday seeking to have most of the evidence in the case dismissed. Among the evidence are statements she made to police, her lighter fluid-soaked clothing and swabs of lighter fluid and blood taken from her body.
The Salem News (http://bit.ly/19SKyy6 ) reports that the defense argues that Goodwin was not mentally competent in March 2011 when she slashed her then-8-year-old son and 3-year-old daughter in their Salem apartment before setting it on fire. Both children survived.
Goodwin's lawyers say she wasn't immediately read her Miranda rights.
The prosecutor sought access to defense experts.
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Information from: The Salem (Mass.) News, http://www.salemnews.com
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