Joy Medley acquitted of husband's murder at Camp Pendleton

Federal judge rules self-defense in '03 stabbing
By Onell R. Soto
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER

June 4, 2008

A woman who stabbed her drunken Marine husband to death at their Camp Pendleton home in 2003 was acquitted of murder and released last week after a federal judge heard testimony she was abused and ruled the killing self-defense.


Joy Medley, 37, was once among the Naval Criminal Investigative Service's “Most Wanted” fugitives and spent six months in jail before her acquittal.

Judge Larry Burns ruled Thursday that there wasn't enough evidence to warrant a murder or manslaughter conviction and ended the bench trial – a trial without a jury – before a defense attorney could start his case.

From her sister's home in North Carolina, where she went after her release Friday, Medley said the judge's decision was “amazing.” She said she doesn't know what she will do next.

“I'm just so overwhelmed right now,” Medley said. If convicted, she faced the rest of her life in prison. “I knew the truth was on my side.”

Few murder cases are tried in federal court – this one was because it took place on a military base – fewer still result in acquittals.

What happened early Oct. 26, 2003, when most of the county's attention was on the massive Cedar fire, wasn't an issue in the trial, said defense attorney Knut Johnson.

“She stabbed her husband to death; there's no doubt about that,” he said.

The issue was whether it was self-defense, as Johnson claimed, or, as prosecutor Steve Miller argued, that she used more force than necessary under the circumstances.

That night, after a party at another house on-base where they were both drinking, Sgt. William Medley, 36, and his wife returned home separately.

They argued because William Medley had taken their friend's dog home, the prosecutor said in a court filing. They yelled at each other. At one point, she slapped him. At another, he threw a remote control at her, and she threw a cat figurine at him.

Their two teenage daughters broke up the fight; one called 911. But before the military police could arrive, Joy Medley, who had a knife, stabbed her husband and called 911 herself, the prosecutor said.

William Medley died at 1:47 a.m., less than an hour later.

Joy Medley later told investigators he punched her several times and told her, “If I'm going down, I'm going in a bag. You are going to ruin my career.”

A military investigator testified that Marine wives often don't report domestic abuse because of the impact it will have on their husbands' careers, Johnson said.

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