Appellate judges on Thursday overturned the conviction of an Ohio woman charged with killing her mother in 2020.
Sydney Powell, who pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity, appealed the conviction, and the Ninth District Court of Appeals agreed that the trial court erred when it denied her attorneys’ motion to for rebuttal testimony, the Akron Beacon Journal reported.
Powell was convicted in September 2023 of killing her mother, 50-year-old Brenda Powell, and sentenced her to life in prison with parole after 15 years. Prosecutors said that Sydney Powell had not told her mother she was kicked out of Mount Union University several months earlier, and her mother was on the phone with school officials when her daughter killed her, hitting her with a frying pan and stabbing her nearly 30 times.
Experts for the defense argued that Sydney Powell, who was 19 at the time, was suffering a psychotic break when she killed her mother. Three experts found she was schizophrenic and could not discern right from wrong.
But an expert for the prosecution agreed that Sydney Powell had a mental health issues — including a borderline personality disorder — but asserted she was not insane when she committed the crime, and that was the testimony the defense was not allowed to rebut.
“The trial court denied Ms. Powell’s motion based solely on the conclusion that there has been ‘lots and lots and lots’ of expert testimony in this matter,” Judge Jennifer Hensal wrote in the decision, the Beacon Journal said. “Under these circumstances, however, Ms. Powell had an ‘unconditional right’ to present rebuttal testimony.”
Powell’s attorney, Dan Malarcik, said the ruling left Powell’s family “ecstatic and hopeful.”
“People like Sydney who suffer from a serious mental disease do NOT belong in prison,” Malarcik wrote. “I look forward to working with our newly elected prosecutor to ensure Brenda’s death is no longer used for political purposes.”
The prosecutor’s office said it was considering its next steps.
