Judge Disallows Evidence Prosecution Argued Could Establish Motive

Montgomery County Circuit Court Judge Robert Greenberg has ruled the jury will not be able to listen to testimony describing the content of a March 11 phone call between Jayna Murray and another Lululemon employee.

During the call, prosecutors say Murray asked another employee, Chioma Nwakibu, whether or not she had sold Brittany Norwood a pair of yoga pants. During a routine bag check, prosecutors say, Murray discovered the pants with the tag still on in Norwood's bag, and Norwood told Murray that Nwakibu had sold them to her. Nwakibu told Murray during the call she hadn't sold the pants to Norwood, and it was shortly after that the confrontation between Norwood and Murray happened, prosecutors said.

Before the jury was called in Monday morning, Greenberg dismissed the content of the phone call as "rank hearsay" and ruled it couldn't be admitted. Prosecutors argued they wanted to use the content of the call to help establish motive, not to prove whether or not Norwood actually stole from the shop.

Prosecutors also said they would not be admitting a video played in a pre-trial hearing of Norwood talking to her brother at Montgomery County Police headquarters the day of her arrest, March 18, during which she said, "She was going to like, make sure our manager knew or something."

It remains to be seen how the prosecution will establish motive in the case.

Dr. William Vosburgh, an expert in blood stain pattern analysis, also took the stand Monday. He said blood in the back hallway of the store where Murray's body was discovered indicated Murray went from a standing position to a crouching or kneeling position to the ground during the attack, where she was struck repeatedly.

He also said there was no evidence of a struggle in the restroom where Norwood was discovered tied up March 12. He said blood on the floor there had been diluted with water and transferred to the floor from something like clothing or hair.

On cross, Vosburgh was asked by the defense whether water from a broken vase found on the floor of the restroom could have diluted the blood. Vosburgh replied in the affirmative.

Patch is reporting live from the courthouse in Rockville during the Lululemon murder trial. Follow up on Twitter for live updates, and visit our for more detailed information on how the case has unfolded so far.