MARION COUNTY, Ind. — A Hancock County woman found guilty of murder and attempted murder in a retrial will be sentenced later this week.
In 2017, a jury found Rebecca Lawson guilty of shooting and killing her ex-boyfriend, Patrick Brown, and wounding Cecelia Land, a romantic rival.
Lawson was sentenced to 85 years in prison, but her conviction was overturned in Nov. 2017 by the Indiana Court of Appeals.
During the trial, Lawson and her legal team contended that the shootings were in self-defense.
The state appeals court ruled that the trial court failed to explain the legal definition of “self-defense” before the jury began deliberating. The court threw out the conviction and ordered a new trial.
A second jury found Lawson guilty of murder and attempted murder in late August.
She will be sentenced Wednesday.
(Photo by Marian Vejcik/Thinkstock.)
