Religion

moobu2

(4,822 posts) Tue Oct 9, 2012, 06:49 PM Oct 2012

Accused murderer wants ‘witch doctor’ to testify that he was cursed

Accused murderer Bakary Camara, 42, wants to call a “witch doctor” to testify on his behalf that he was possessed by evil spirits when he killed his ex-lover, New York City student Rita Morelli.

According to ABC News, Manhattan prosecutor Evan Krutoy wrote the judge last week stating that “The people respectfully request the court to preclude the defense from calling a ‘witch doctor’ at trial.”

Krutoy added, “It is difficult to imagine how a ‘witch doctor’ could be qualified in a court of law… the defense cannot credibly argue that witchcraft is a profession [with] scientific knowledge.”

Camara’s attorney, Seema Iyer, however, is disputing the term “witch doctor” that has been used to label her witness, saying, she prefers to call him a “spiritual adviser.”

http://thegrio.com/2012/10/09/accused-murderer-wants-witch-doctor-to-testify-that-he-was-cursed/

7 replies

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Highlight:

Accused murderer wants ‘witch doctor’ to testify that he was cursed (Original Post) moobu2 Oct 2012 OP

Sounds like he needs a psychiatrist not a witch doctor. cbayer Oct 2012 #1

Says the establishment Politicalboi Oct 2012 #2

It's a mens rea defense. rug Oct 2012 #3

... he called 911 call from a pay phone a few blocks from his apartment in the Bronx to report struggle4progress Oct 2012 #4

... Cops found a rambling note in Bakary Camara's pocket after they arrested him struggle4progress Oct 2012 #5

... “I killed Rita,” the note reads. Still Bakary Camara, 41, at his arraignment struggle4progress Oct 2012 #6

“I can’t take her out of my mind,” Camara, 42, wrote of the elegant, 36-year-old struggle4progress Oct 2012 #7

cbayer

(146,218 posts)

1. Sounds like he needs a psychiatrist not a witch doctor.

Reply to moobu2 (Original post)

Tue Oct 9, 2012, 06:58 PM

Oct 2012

Politicalboi

(15,189 posts)

2. Says the establishment

Reply to moobu2 (Original post)

Tue Oct 9, 2012, 07:04 PM

Oct 2012

Who has people swear on a bible.

Call Palin, she's got her own witch doctor. I'm sure for the right price, he will testify for the defense.

rug

(82,333 posts)

3. It's a mens rea defense.

Reply to moobu2 (Original post)

Tue Oct 9, 2012, 07:34 PM

Oct 2012

To convict him, the prosecutor must prove both the criminal act and the requisite criminal intent. The defense is trying to establish reasonable doubt on his state of mind.

Here's an early report on the arrest.

http://www.whatsonningbo.com/news-5957-us-killer-bakary-camara-says-evil-spell-led-him-to-kill-italian-lover-rita-morelli.html

struggle4progress

(118,290 posts)

4. ... he called 911 call from a pay phone a few blocks from his apartment in the Bronx to report

Reply to moobu2 (Original post)

Tue Oct 9, 2012, 07:54 PM

Oct 2012

in the woman's apartment. Cops say they found her cell phone and started calling her friends' phone numbers. Camara answered a call with the same heavy accent police heard on the anonymous 911 call.

Inintially, investigators say they tried to trick Camara to get him to come to the stationhouse where they could arrest him, but he didn't bite.

Cops then went to his home and when he wouldn't answer the door, they forced their way in only to find Camara on the sofa repeatedly stabbing himself ...

Man Arrested For Stabbing Death Of Italian Student In Harlem
By MIKE GILLIAM PIX11.com / @pix11mike
9:58 a.m. EST, December 1, 2011
http://www.wpix.com/news/wpix-stabbing-death-arrest-120111,0,2367389.story

struggle4progress

(118,290 posts)

5. ... Cops found a rambling note in Bakary Camara's pocket after they arrested him

Reply to moobu2 (Original post)

Tue Oct 9, 2012, 07:57 PM

Oct 2012

as he stabbed himself ... He later admitted to killing Miss Morelli, an old flame of his, according to reports ...

'They had apparently a previous relationship. It was a somewhat rambling note, but he says that it was some sort of spell placed over him and that’s why he did' ...

After unsuccessfully trying to lure Camara to a police precinct, cops busted down Camara's door Wednesday and found him stabbing himself in the stomach.

According to the Daily News, he admitted to killing Miss Morelli after police took him to the hospital ...

US killer Bakary Camara says 'evil spell' led him to kill Italian lover Rita Morelli
Updated: 02 Dec 2011
http://www.whatsonningbo.com/news-5957-us-killer-bakary-camara-says-evil-spell-led-him-to-kill-italian-lover-rita-morelli.html

struggle4progress

(118,290 posts)

6. ... “I killed Rita,” the note reads. Still Bakary Camara, 41, at his arraignment

Reply to moobu2 (Original post)

Tue Oct 9, 2012, 07:59 PM

Oct 2012

at Manhattan’s Bellevue Hospital, denied he choked and then stabbed former flame Rita Morelli, 36, of East Harlem, on Nov. 23.

Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan ordered Camara, an African immigrant, to be held without bail and be given a psychiatric evaluation to determine if he understands the charges against him.

Cops found the note in Camara’s apartment when they busted down his door and found him stabbing himself in the stomach ...

Not guilty plea in Italian student slay
MELISSA GRACE
Wednesday, December 21, 2011
http://articles.nydailynews.com/2011-12-21/news/30544444_1_suicide-note-guilty-plea-camara

struggle4progress

(118,290 posts)

7. “I can’t take her out of my mind,” Camara, 42, wrote of the elegant, 36-year-old

Reply to moobu2 (Original post)

Tue Oct 9, 2012, 08:03 PM

Oct 2012

Borough of Manhattan Community College student, who he’d met when she worked sales and he worked security at the 7 For All Mankind shop on West Broadway in 2009.

For the prosecution, the disjointed, misspelling-laced letter is evidence of guilt. “I went to my ex-girl Rita around 8 p.m.,” he writes. “I kill her and I want to get kill … or I will hurt again.”

But the defense seems poised to use the letter to show Camara believed he was powerless against a curse — or ‘curs,’ as he spelled it — and so could not have killed her intentionally.

“They put a curs on me,” he wrote. “They make me seck” wrote Camara, who was raised in Senegal but born in the U.S. “They make you do anythings,” he wrote. “Could make you die fast or go to jail… you always be mad and sad. This is a curs.” ...

‘Killer’ was obsessed
By LAURA ITALIANO
Last Updated: 12:39 PM, October 9, 2012
Posted: 1:00 AM, October 9, 2012
http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/manhattan/killer_was_obsessed_8SR15i6AExoa2pmdmhDj0H

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