Norwood Not Eligible For Death Penalty; "Aggravating Factors" Must Exist, Experts Say

The Lululemon employee in Bethesda March 11 isn’t eligible to receive the death penalty if convicted of the crime, prosecutors have said. While Brittany Norwood, 28, stands charged with first-degree murder, other “aggravating” factors must be proven beyond a reasonable doubt in the state of Maryland before a defendant receives the death penalty, experts tell Patch.

Police initially said Norwood was the surviving victim of an attack by two masked men at the Bethesda Avenue Lululemon store, but she is now accused of killing Murray, her co-worker.

Prosecutors have said she to make it appear as though an attack had taken place.

In a Maryland death penalty case, prosecutors need to prove a defendant guilty of first-degree murder and prove one or more “aggravating factors” were present during the crime, said Byron Warnken, a professor of law at the University of Baltimore law school and a practicing criminal defense attorney. Those factors include killing a law enforcement officer, killing multiple victims in the same crime, killing someone in a correctional facility or while attempting to escape from one, hiring another to kill, and others, Warnken said. “Just because someone is convicted of first-degree murder doesn’t make it a death penalty case,” Warnken said.

Warnken said the U.S. Constitution requires each death penalty case to be reviewed on a case-by-case basis. “Obviously, the death penalty is the only punishment we can’t undo if we give it,” Warnken said. “There isn’t quite the appetite in Maryland for the death penalty as there once was, and there’s a movement going on now to try to repeal it.”

Prosecutors have said the maximum punishment Norwood now faces if convicted is life in prison without the possibility of parole.

In order to prove a defendant is guilty of first-degree murder, prosecutors need to prove to a jury that pre-meditation was involved in the crime, Warnken said. Pre-meditation means “not only did I have a specific intent to kill, I had some level of plan – it doesn’t mean I stayed up all night thinking about it,” Warnken said.“…Certainly, planning for days or weeks or months makes proving [premediation] easier, but literally in a split second [a defendant can be] capable of pre-meditating.”

A defendant can also be found guilty of first-degree murder if the killing happened while committing a dangerous felony, like arson, robbery or rape, Warnken said.

Norwood is scheduled for a preliminary hearing April 15.