Ellicott City Blogger's Daughter May Plead Not Criminally Responsible: Judge

A Howard County judge ruled Wednesday that the Ellicott City teen accused of conspiring to kill her father—blogger Dennis Lane—may plead not criminally responsible in his murder.

Judge William Tucker said “fundamental fairness” was behind his decision to allow Morgan Lane Arnold, 16, to enter a plea of not criminally responsible by reason of insanity.

In May 2013, Arnold was indicted on charges of first-degree murder, two counts of solicitation for first-degree murder and two counts of conspiracy in her father’s May 10, 2013, fatal stabbing.

Her boyfriend Jason Bulmer pleaded guilty to first-degree murder earlier this year and was sentenced to 30 years in prison.

Tucker’s ruling Wednesday concluded a pretrial hearing in Howard County Circuit Court, where the Howard County State’s Attorney’s Office also withdrew its motion to ask for a sentence of life without parole. It was not immediately available why.

Regarding the not criminally responsible plea, the state’s attorney’s office argued against its permissibility, noting that it had been more than 400 days since Arnold was indicted and would be difficult to evaluate her mental state after the fact.

According to police, Arnold plotted for months with her boyfriend to kill Lane so the two could run away together. When officers arrived at Lane’s Ellicott City home after he was killed with a kitchen knife, Arnold and Bulmer were in the house, the boyfriend covered in blood, police said.

A not criminally responsible plea means that due to mental disorder or retardation, when the crime was committed, the accused couldn’t understand the criminality of the conduct or couldn’t abide by the law.

Arnold’s lawyers should have filed a written plea of not criminally responsible “at the time provided for initial pleading” unless the court allows a later filing “for good cause shown,” according to Maryland code.

Tucker ruled that there was sufficient justification for delay.

Over the summer, Arnold’s lawyers tried unsuccessfully to have her case moved to juvenile court. She was 14 at the time of the murder and is now 16. Arnold’s lawyer, Joseph Murtha, said he waited to file the plea because “not criminally responsible” is not an option in juvenile court.

The Howard County State’s Attorney’s Office said the plea being brought about now was a “strategic move” based not on fact but on tactics.

“It was a calculated decision,” Douglas Nelsen of the state’s attorney’s office said. “She’s been educated on what she needs to say to make that happen,” he said of being deemed not criminally responsible.

Tucker said: “Miss Arnold may be schooling herself” to sway evaluators but that she does have “significant, complex mental health issues.”

In a court-commissioned study of Arnold’s mental health, five experts gave five different diagnoses, from Asperger’s to ADHD to depression. Her lawyer previously said she is on depression medication.

Arnold‘s murder trial will be in Howard County Circuit Court on Feb. 17, 2015.

Related:

Ellicott City Blogger’s Daughter to be Tried as Adult in His Murder