Local News in Brief : Slain Producer’s Maid to Face Lesser Charge
A Van Nuys Superior Court judge ruled Friday that the maid of slain television producer Herbert Wallerstein should be tried on a manslaughter charge, rather than murder.
Judge James A. Albracht reversed a Municipal Court judge, who had ruled after a preliminary hearing in January that there was sufficient evidence for a murder trial.
The maid, Mayra Melendez Lopez, 25, admitted to police that she struck Wallerstein, 59, with a baseball bat, but claimed she reacted in self-defense after Wallerstein hit her.
Albracht agreed with defense arguments that the prosecution had presented no evidence at the preliminary hearing to show that Lopez had “malice aforethought,” which is necessary to support a charge of murder.
Lopez’s trial is scheduled for March 18.
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