After exhausting an initial appeal process based on the claim his defense counsel was ineffective during his 2003 trial, Benjamin Sifrit embarked on a different tack in an attempt to get his conviction reversed and gain a new trial when he filed a petition with the Maryland Court of Appeals, arguing the prosecution team, led by Worcester County State’s Attorney Joel Todd, used inconsistent theories of the events surrounding the crimes in order to gain the convictions of both he and his wife.

However, U.S. District Court Judge Richard D. Bennett last week issued an opinion in Benjamin Sifrit’s petition for a new trial, essentially upholding the Court of Appeals decision.
“The petitioner’s sole claim before this court is that his right to due process was violated when the state presented materially inconsistent theories at Mr. Sifrit’s trial and at the trial of his wife, Erika Sifrit,” the opinion reads. “At Mr. Sifrit’s trial, the state argued the petitioner killed the two victims and was in control of the events surrounding the victims’ deaths. At the subsequent trial of Erika Sifrit, the state argued that Erika killed the two victims.”
In April 2003, Benjamin Sifrit was convicted of second-degree murder, first-degree assault and accessory after the fact for his part in the killing of Martha Crutchley in an Ocean City condominium on Memorial Day weekend in 2002 and was sentenced to 38 years in jail. His wife, Erika, was convicted of first-degree murder in the death of Joshua Ford, and second-degree murder in the death of Crutchley in a separate trial in Frederick, Md. that same year and was sentenced to life in prison plus 20 years.
The Sifrits lured Crutchley and Ford back to their Ocean City condo after spending the evening with them at a resort nightclub before brutally murdering them and dismembering the bodies, parts of which were found in a Delaware landfill nine days later. The couple was caught during a botched attempt at a burglary in Ocean City nearly a week later and the trail of evidence led investigators to the scene of the murders.
Both Erika and Benjamin Sifrit each argued the state utilized differing versions of the same basic set of facts surrounding the crime in order to gain convictions on both of the accused during their separate attempts at appeal. However, at each level of appeal, the varying courts have ruled the prosecution did not deny the defendants due process because it strictly stuck to the same basic theory that the two acted together in the commission of the crimes.

In his opinion, Bennett ruled despite nuances in the prosecution’s cases against the two defendants, the underlying theory remained consistent throughout the trials at the Circuit Court level.
“To violate due process, an inconsistency must exist at the core of the prosecutor’s case against the defendants for the same crime,” the opinion reads. “No such inconsistency exists in the present case. From the beginning of both Benjamin and Erika Sifrit’s prosecutions, the government consistently asserted one theory of the case, that both defendants acted in concert to murder Joshua Ford and Martha Crutchley, and that no one would ever know, aside from the petitioner and his wife, what precisely transpired that night.”
In terms of the inconsistent theory of prosecution argument, last week’s federal court opinion exhausts Benjamin Sifrit’s last attempt at an appeal, although he could conceivably attempt another appeal using a different tack. However, that would require going back to square one in Bennett’s opinion.
“The petitioner no longer has any state direct review or collateral review remedies available to him with respect to the claim raised in this court,” the opinion reads. “His claim is exhausted for the purpose of federal habeas corpus review.”
www.mdcoastdispatch.com
9 comments:
So..... that means these two murders are still behind bars because of the wonderful job of our State's Attorney Joel Todd and the Ocean City Police Officers and Detectives. Why do we need Beau Oglesby if Todd is doing such a great job. If it's not broke don't try to fix it.
The facts in this case were so far beyond dispute that even Mickey Mouse could have obtained a conviction. The Sifrits were caught burglarizing Hooters a few days after the murders and when the police checked their car they found not only the murder weapons but also Crutchley's and Ford's drivers licenses. Things just got better from there. The case was handed to Todd on a silver platter.
I say give Ben a new trial and maybe this time he will be found guilty of first degree murder and then be eligible for a life sentence, instead of 35 yrs, which due to Maryland's wonderful laws doesn't mean anywhere near 35 years.
Yeah, give Ben a new trial in a different county, just like last time. If Todd is still prosecutor maybe he can get another new wife, just like last time.
LOL-2:22 I know it's not nice but I can't help it.
It's really not funny to make a joke about this case. This is and was very serious.
I've always wondered because a lot of people, rather couples, like to come to OC from Baltimore for the 'swinging' atmosphere for couples.
Wonder if Joshua Ford and Marth Crutchley realized things were bad way too late.
Just ask some law enforcement about the life.
Wonder how they came to be involved with this couple?
What is going on in our county?
A .357 was fired at least TWICE and no one at the Rainbow Condo or surrounding buildings heard it?
Too bad the couple who were butcherd did not see it coming!!! They were completely fooled! The scary part is, how pure evil can look so normal!!!!
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