EDENTON, N.C. (AP) - The attorney for a man convicted in the death of a 5-year-old North Carolina girl should get a new trial because his right to attorney-client privilege was violated shortly after his arrest.
The Fayetteville Observer reports (https://bit.ly/2q3Rbrq) the N.C. Supreme Court heard oral arguments on Tuesday in the case of Mario Andrette McNeill, who was convicted in 2009of killing Shaniya Davis in Cumberland County. McNeill was sentenced to death in the case.
Appellate lawyer Andrew DeSimone said two Fayetteville lawyers revealed that McNeill gave them the information on where to find Shaniya’s body. DeSimone said the attorneys could have used an anonymous means to help law enforcement with the search.
Assistant Attorney General Anne M. Middleton argued that when McNeill told the attorneys he wanted to pass along the information to the police, he waived his attorney-client privilege.
Condemned killers get an automatic review of their case by the state Supreme Court, bypassing the lower-level appeals court.
McNeill’s crimes included sexual offense with a child by adult offender, first-degree kidnapping, human trafficking of a minor, sexual servitude of a minor, and indecent liberties with a child. McNeill previously pleaded guilty to felony assault for shooting three people in 2001.
Shaniya’s mother, Antoinette Nicole Davis, sold her to McNeill to pay off a $200 debt. She was sentenced to serve at least 17 years in prison for second-degree murder, human trafficking of a minor and other charges.
McNeill offered no evidence during his trial, wanted no one to testify on his behalf before sentencing and forbade his lawyers from offering any closing arguments to jurors.
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Information from: The Fayetteville Observer, https://www.fayobserver.com
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