Chism is Convicted; Jury Continues to Deliberate in Baltimore; Serial Killer Hearings in LA (Dec. 16, 2015)

UPDATE: The Baltimore jury deadlocked on Dec. 16 on all four counts against Officer William Porter. The judge will meet with the attorneys Dec. 17 presumably to set a new trial date. The other five officers have trial dates of Jan. 6 and 25, Feb. 9 and 22, and March 9. I assume Judge Williams will set a date for late March or early April unless he moves the dates of the other officers. The rape and murder conviction yesterday of Philip Chism, 16, in Salem, Massachusetts was not surprising. Chism conceded he brutally killed his high school math teacher Colleen Ritzer, 22, at the school on October 22, 2013, using a boxcutter to slash her. Chism asserted an insanity defense and while there is evidence of mental instability, the bar is high to prove legal insanity. The jury’s rejection of…