Projo 7 to 7 News Blog

WARWICK -- The defense lawyer for James Richardson, who is being retried for allegedly murdering a teacher's aide in 2005, told the jury today, "This case, in my mind, has more questions than it has answers."

The court-appointed lawyer, Mark Smith, said in closing aguments in Kent County Superior Court today that it is not the jury's function to solve the puzzle. Rather, the jury must determine whether or not the pieces of the case fit in such a way that the prosecution met the burden of proof beyond a reasonable doubt.

Richardson, 41, of Cranston, faces charges of first-degree murder and burglary in the death of Margaret Duffy-Stephenson, who was found stabbed in her Blackmore Street home on Nov. 18, 2005. His first trial ended in a hung jury last year.

Duffy-Stephenson, 37, a special-needs students teacher's aide in East Greenwich, was found stabbed after coming home early from a family wedding in Florida. Her husband and the couple's 3-year-old son, Robert, had stayed in Florida to visit with relatives. The police said her attacker ransacked a downstairs office and took $11,000 from a locked safe.

The defense rested yesterday after calling several witnesses.

The prosecution is slated to deliver a closing argument next.

The judge will then give instructions to the jury, which will receive the case.

-- projo.com staff writer Michael P. McKinney, with reports from Journal staff writer Talia Buford

 Tags  Duffy-Stephenson murder trial Warwick

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