Cloudy and damp with rain early...then becoming partly cloudy. Low 52F. Winds SSW at 15 to 25 mph. Chance of rain 100%. Rainfall around a quarter of an inch. Higher wind gusts possible..
Tonight
Cloudy and damp with rain early...then becoming partly cloudy. Low 52F. Winds SSW at 15 to 25 mph. Chance of rain 100%. Rainfall around a quarter of an inch. Higher wind gusts possible.
Lawrence May pleaded not guilty yesterday to fatally stabbing his estranged wife with a pair of scissors but his chance to prove his case to a jury may be delayed by his attorney's judicial dreams.
Cliff Cretan, May's defense attorney, applied to fill one of the five lingering judge vacancies in the San Mateo County courthouse. If appointed by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, Cretan would help ease the stack of criminal cases continually trailing through the local court system. However, the move could slow his own client's case while May scrambles for a new attorney.
May, 48, hired Cretan shortly after his first court appearance on first-degree murder charges and the special allegation of lying in wait. Any defense attorney may have his work cut out for him since May was discovered by police reportedly apologizing and clutching his dying wife's body. The special allegation makes May eligible for the death penalty although District Attorney Jim Fox has not made a formal announcement. Cretan has hinted previously psychological issues could be a crux of his case if it is brought to trial.
Yesterday, Judge James Ellis ordered May back to court Dec. 14 to set a jury trial date. Schwarzenegger is on no deadline to appoint judges so Cretan has no idea when — or if — he will be called to action.
Sharen May, 40, was pronounced dead at the scene after police and paramedics found her bleeding profusely in the office building on Borel Avenue. The Daly City couple were attending a court-ordered mediation session as part of their divorce proceedings but Lawrence May allegedly left 15 minutes before his wife. Prosecutors claim he waited for his wife at the elevator and ambushed her with the scissors. He was discovered holding his wife and apologizing.
Sharen May had filed for divorce from her husband of 13 years and the couple was trying to arrange custody of their three young children. May, a psychiatric social worker for the county's Human Services Agency, had asked for an emergency restraining order because she feared her husband would abduct the children. Family law judge Rosemary Pfeiffer refused the offer, saying they were safe because they were already in their mother's custody.
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Keep the discussion civilized. Absolutely NO personal attacks or insults directed toward writers, nor others who make comments.
Keep it clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd, racist or sexually-oriented language.
Don't threaten. Threats of harming another person will not be tolerated.
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Be proactive. Use the 'Report' link on each comment to let us know of abusive posts.
PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK.
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