Man guilty of Rosedale murder not criminally responsible, judge rules
Decision disappoints parents of victim, 21
A man convicted of first-degree murder in the 2021 stabbing of Cody Mulligan is not criminally responsible for the charge, a Baltimore County judge ruled last week.
After ruling Feb. 7 that James John Marchsteiner III, 49, was guilty of premeditated murder, Circuit Court Judge Vicki Ballou-Watts found the following day that he was not criminally responsible for the killing of the 21-year-old.
Marchsteiner was committed to the Maryland Department of Health for inpatient treatment after the Wednesday hearing during which Mulligan’s family gave victim impact statements. He will be held in the health department’s custody for an indefinite length of time.
To find someone not criminally responsible, Maryland’s version of the insanity plea, the defense must prove that at the time of the crime, the defendant could not understand their actions were illegal or conform their actions to the law because of a mental disorder or developmental disabilities.
A state psychiatrist evaluated Marchsteiner.
Mulligan, 21, died days after being stabbed outside his Rosedale home in the 1000 block of Sumter Avenue. Diagnosed as a child with a neurogenerative illness called juvenile Batten disease that left him blind, Mulligan was a high school athlete who enjoyed working out and hunting with his stepdad, his family said.
Marchsteiner also was charged with first- and second-degree assault, but those charges were merged into his murder conviction for sentencing purposes, court records show.
Mulligan’s parents, Mike Mulligan and Sarah Hessler, said they were disappointed with the decision and would appeal all future hearings on Marchsteiner’s release.
“He definitely needs to stay in a facility or behind bars as long as possible,” Hessler said.
Mike Mulligan said he intends to pursue changing Maryland’s law so that people found guilty of premediated murder like Marchsteiner serve prison time instead of being hospitalized.
“The system’s broken,” Mulligan said. “The legal system needs some help, some reform or something.”