Appellate judges on Thursday overturned the conviction of an Ohio woman charged with killing her mother in 2020.
Sydney Powell was found guilty of murdering her mother, Brenda Powell, but she pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity. After appealing the conviction, the Ninth District Court of Appeals acknowledged an error by the trial court. The court had wrongly rejected Powell’s attorneys’ request for rebuttal testimony, as reported by the Akron Beacon Journal.
In September 2023, Powell was convicted of the crime and received a life sentence with the possibility of parole after 15 years. According to prosecutors, Powell neglected to inform her mother about her expulsion from Mount Union University a few months prior to the incident. Reportedly, Brenda Powell was conversing with school officials when Sydney attacked her, using a frying pan and inflicting nearly 30 stab wounds.
The defense presented arguments from experts asserting that Sydney Powell, then 19 years old, was experiencing a psychotic episode during the tragic event. Three separate evaluations concluded that she was suffering from schizophrenia and was unable to distinguish between right and wrong at the time of the crime.
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.
