ANN ARBOR, MI – A man charged with a fatal stabbing in 2023 has been deemed competent despite his attorneys attempts to claim he was insane at the time.
Attorneys for James Lee Trussell, 21, claim he was acting in self-defense and was insane at the time he reportedly fatally stabbed Ari Clarke in 2023, according to filings in the Washtenaw County Trial Court.
Trussell primarily speaks through his mother and seems unable to understand court proceedings, wrote Edward Martell, Trussell’s Detroit-based attorney, in a March motion asking for Trussell to be evaluated. Under Michigan law, a defendant is assumed competent unless testing shows otherwise…