Murder defendant changes story on stand

Wednesday, June 23, 2010
© Copyright 2013 Albany Herald

ALBANY, Ga. -- The prosecution and defense have rested their cases in the murder trial of Tiffany Wise. The jury is expected to return later this afternoon to hear both sides' closing statements.

During this morning's testimony in Dougherty Superior Court, Wise told jurors that she was innocent of the crime of murder.

Wise has been accused in the beating death of 88-year-old Mattie Mabel Berry, whose body was discovered at her home on May 3, 2009.

Wise had told detectives that a man named Herbert Washington, who she identified as a friend of her daughter's father, was the one who had beaten Berry, but later confessed that she acted alone in the crime.

In an odd twist, Wise again changed her story today on the witness stand. She told jurors that a woman named Shavonda Sims, who was Wise's roommate at the Albany Rescue Mission, killed Berry on that Sunday morning.

Wise testified that she lied to detectives about Sims and made up the story about Washington because Sims had threatened to kill her and her family if Wise told police about the crime.

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