BURLINGTON COUNTY— A Mansfield Township man who claimed God made him kill his pregnant girlfriend will get a new trial because jurors deciding his case should have been allowed to hear special instructions about an insanity defense, a state appellate panel has ruled. The three-judge panel ossed out the conviction and 50-year sentence of Boyce Singleton Jr. on Monday because...
BURLINGTON COUNTY— A Mansfield Township man who claimed God made him kill his pregnant girlfriend will get a new trial because jurors deciding his case should have been allowed to hear special instructions about an insanity defense, a state appellate panel has ruled.
The three-judge panel ossed out the conviction and 50-year sentence of Boyce Singleton Jr. on Monday because it said the trial judge should have allowed the jury to consider an insanity defense.
During Singleton’s trial in 2008, Superior Court Judge Patricia LeBon gave the general instructions that jurors could reach a guilty verdict on a murder charge if they found the defendant knew the killing was wrong.
But, the appellate panel said, LeBon should have told jurors they could acquit Singleton by reason of insanity — even if they found Singleton knew killing Michelle Cazan was wrong — if they believed he felt God compelled him to act.
‘‘It was for the jury to find the facts and determine whether the defendant believed God commanded him to kill Michelle,’’ Judge Clarkson Fisher Jr. wrote for the trio. ‘‘And it was for the judge to provide instructions depending upon how the jury might find the facts.’’
Singleton, now 32, admitted he fatally shot and stabbed Cazan in the Mansfield Township home they shared on Sept. 13, 2005. Testifying during his 10-day trial, Singleton told jurors, ‘‘It was the right thing to do because it was something God was telling me to do.’’
The day before the slaying, Cazan had told Singleton that she was pregnant with his child.
At trial, several family members testified Singleton held rambling conversations with no one in particular. On the witness stand, he testified he has had conversations with God.
Assistant Deputy Public Defender John Douard also argued Singleton’s conviction should be overturned because of alleged prosecutorial misconduct, because the sentence was excessive and because the ‘‘gruesome’’ photos of Cazan presented to the jurors prevented Singleton from getting a fair trial.
The appellate panel did not rule on those issues because of its findings about the jury instructions.
Editor's Note: And earlier version of this story indicated the wrong year of Boyce Singleton's trial. The trial took place in 2008.
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