State v. Baker

Prosecutors have brought a first-degree murder charge against Sarah Baker in the death of her husband, a prominent television newscaster. According to the State, she planned to end the marriage, remove him from her will, and was facing a lawsuit from him seeking a substantial share of the estate. Baker maintains that she fired because he came at her with a kitchen knife and vowed to kill her, and that she acted to defend herself.

The case turns on scientific evidence as much as on testimony. Forensic pathology, criminalistics, and DNA analysis are all central, and the defense rests on self-defense. The book is written for readers interested in criminal trial practice and how physical evidence is presented and contested in court.