Jurors begin deliberations in Burton murder trial

RANCHO CUCAMONGA -- Jurors began deliberations this afternoon in the trial of a Pasadena firefighter accused of murdering his wife with a samurai sword before trying to take his own life.

Following 11 days of testimony over four weeks, attorneys in Michael Burton's murder trial sparred over the facts of the case today during their closing arguments in West Valley Superior Court.

Deputy District Attorney Michele Daly told jurors that Burton, 48, lied in wait in the couple's Rancho Cucamonga home for his wife, with whom he was engaged in a bitter divorce, to return from a night out.

When Otilia Burton, 35, arrived home the morning of July 16, 2006, Michael Burton attacked her with a samurai sword, stabbing her 10 times, Daly said.

Daly dismissed Michael Burton's claims in his testimony Monday that he acted in self-defense. Burton, Daly said, "(is) playing games with us in terms of telling us exactly how it happened."

During his 90-minute closing argument, Michael Burton's defense attorney, Winston McKesson, told jurors that Otilia Burton first attacked her husband by trying to shock him with a Taser, throwing a knife at him, and stabbing him in the chest.

Michael Burton responded by defending himself with the sword against his wife's attack, McKesson said.

"And then he couldn't bear the shame and he tried to take his on life," McKesson said.

Burton slashed his left wrist and sliced his neck several times. He also suffered a shallow chest wound.

McKesson called on the jury to return with a "complete and total acquittal."

The jury of eight women and four men retired to deliberate at 3:30 p.m., and ended deliberations for the day at about 4:30, Daly said.

They are set to continue deliberating Thursday morning, Daly said.

Burton is charged with murder, but jurors have the option of convicting him of first-degree murder, second-degree murder or voluntary manslaughter.

First- and second-degree murder carry life prison terms, while voluntary manslaughter carries a prison sentence of three years, six years or 11 years.

In his closing argument, McKesson attacked the credibility of several prosecution witnesses and detailed the evidence that he said supports Burton's self-defense claims.

McKesson accused one of Otilia Burton's friends and co-workers of lying on the witness stand Tuesday when she testified that the day prior to Otilia Burton's death, Otilia Burton told the co-worker that Michael Burton had threatened to kill her.

The co-worker, Dawnyell Varela, was in the audience in the packed courtroom today, and during his closing argument McKesson pointed at her several times.

"She hates (Burton)" and is not a neutral witness, McKesson told jurors.

McKesson also emphasized the testimony of David Posey, a defense-hired doctor who said he believes a stab wound on Burton's chest was likely not self-inflicted.

Posey testified that the position of the wound and its angle of entry in Burton's chest were inconsistent with a self-inflicted wound, McKesson told jurors.

Those observations and others by the doctor prove false claims from members a sheriff's department SWAT team that Burton was stabbing himself in the chest when they took him into custody, McKesson said.

Daly took aim at Posey's in her rebuttal to McKesson's closing argument -- accusing the doctor of dismissing evidence that supported prosecutors' claims and saying only what the defense wanted him to say.

"I think Dr. Posey was a whore -- garbage in, garbage out," Daly said.

Daly said that at the time of her death, Otilia Burton had been making plans for the future with her boyfriend, and had completed training to become a nurse.

"There was no reason for her to come in and start this fray. ... The one who had the motivation is the defendant," Daly said.