Hello and welcome to the sidebar presented by true crime news taking you inside the

courtrooms of high profile and notorious cases from across the country. I'm your

host Joshua Ritter. I'm a criminal defense lawyer based in Los Angeles and previously an LA

County prosecutor for a decade. We are recording this on Friday July 25th

2024. In this week's episode a mother stands accused of stabbing her

firefighter husband to death while two of the couple's adult children were in

the home. Plus a teenager charged with shooting her mother faces trial as an adult and will now also face

full media scrutiny after a judge's ruling to allow cameras in the courtroom.

But first, prosecutors rest their case against a former

ballerina charged with a fatal shooting of her estranged husband as she takes the stand in

her own defense.

This week I am flying solo, so bear with me as we try to get through these cases.

All of them are very interesting and you will see, I think that we have a theme that runs throughout that we will talk about.

So let's first move to Manatee County, Florida where prosecutors rested their case against a woman charged with her husband's murder as the former ballerina's defense

contends the slain was an act of self-preservation. Ashley Benafield faces one

count of second-degree murder for the fatal shooting of her estranged husband Doug Benafield.

Ashley's defense maintains that Doug was abusive and charged her moments before she shot him.

Prosecutors argued Benafield gunned down her estranged husband in a last ditch effort to maintain sole possession of the couple's daughter.

The pair had been engaged in a prolonged custody debate at the time of the incident.

Rounding out the state's case, medical examiner Dr Russell Vega testified about his autopsy of Mr.

Benafield and the three shot wounds suffered by the man before his death.

Both sides sparred over the fatal wound to the man's chest debating the positioning of the

...