Tuesday, March 19, 2013
Jurors determine West Bloomfield grandmother gunned down her 17-year-old grandson, Jonathan Hoffman.
Jurors have found West Bloomfield grandmother Sandra Layne guilty of second degree murder in the shooting death of her grandson. Deliberation spanned eight hours over two days, according to the Detroit News, and Layne was found guilty of killing her 17-year-old grandson and guilty of the use of a firearm in the commission of a felony Tuesday in Oakland County Circuit Court. Read all of Ronelle's Trial Talk blogs from the courtroom on Patch. Prosecutors said Layne was intent on killing her grandson, shooting him six times, according to the Detroit Free Press, while Layne told the jury she was afraid of Hoffman and killed him in self-defense. The jury determined Layne, 75, shot and killed Jonathan Hoffman last May in the West Bloomfield …
Saturday, March 16, 2013
Attorneys and jurors finished questioning key witnesses, including the 75-year-old West Bloomfield woman who shot her grandson.
Sandra Layne spent the better parts of two days testifying in her own defense in emotional and sometimes gripping fashion this week. Her tearful appearance on the witness stand punctuated a few crucial days of testimony that will likely determine whether the 75-year-old West Bloomfield grandmother is convicted of murdering her grandson, Jonathan Hoffman. Layne faces counts of open murder and possession of a firearm in the commission of a felony for shooting Hoffman, 17, to death last May in the condominium they shared. Patch blogger Ronelle Grier wrote Friday that attorneys concluded questioning witnesses, and are expected to deliver closing arguments Monday morning. Read all of Ronelle's Trial Talk blogs from the courtroom on Patch. …
Tuesday, March 5, 2013
Testimony began Tuesday as Sandra Layne, 75, faces a murder charge for teen grandson's slaying in her West Bloomfield condo.
The final minutes of West Bloomfield teenager Johathan Hoffman's life came into focus Tuesday as the trial of his grandmother — and accused killer — began in Oakland County Circuit Court. And the West Bloomfield Police Department dispatchers and officers that witnessed it all unfold were a major part of the proceedings. Layne, 75, faces one count of open murder after shooting her 17-year-old grandson, Jonathan Hoffman, to death last May in the West Bloomfield condominium they shared on Brookview Lane. Two WBPD dispatchers testified that they received multiple calls about the shooting within a 10-minute span, including the 9-1-1 call from Hoffman, who was wounded and pleading for help, WDIV-TV reported. During his opening statement …
42.65302
-83.3279
1200 N Telegraph Rd, Pontiac, MI
Oakland County Circuit Court
/articles/wbpd-dispatchers-officers-testify-in-grandmother-murder-trial
/locations/8950180
Thursday, February 28, 2013
Sandra Layne, 74, of West Bloomfield, was in court Thursday.
A trial is set to begin Monday for a West Bloomfield grandmother charged in the shooting death of her grandson. Sandra Maxine Layne, 74, is charged with shooting her 17-year-old grandson to death last May in the West Bloomfield condominium they shared on Brookview Lane. Layne appeared in court for the final pretrial hearing Thursday, according to the Oakland Press, where Oakland County Circuit Judge Denise Langford Morris expressed concerns over a jury pool of 40, from which 12 and a couple alternates will hear testimony. Layne, who remains in jail on an open charge of murder and possession of a firearm in the commission of a felony. If convicted, she faces life in prison. Defense attorney Jerome Sabbota has said the killing was self-…
Thursday, December 6, 2012
Sandra Layne, 74, of West Bloomfield, was in court Thursday.
PONTIAC — The grandmother charged with shooting her grandson to death last May in the West Bloomfield condominium they shared on Brookview Lane is expected to go to trial early next year, after a judge's ruling Thursday. Oakland County Circuit Court Judge Denise Langford Morris set a tentative trial date of March 4 for Sandra Maxine Layne, 74, who remains in jail on an open charge of murder and possession of a firearm in the commission of a felony. If convicted, she faces life in prison. Meanwhile, defense attorney Jerome Sabbota said that forensic lab reports including ballistics analysis, blood spatter, and DNA testing will be completed from the condo in Maple Place Villas, where medical examiners have testified that Jonathan Hoffman, 17…
Sunday, November 11, 2012
Start the week off right: turn to Patch this week for news on local government, courts and sports.
Five local stories to keep an eye on Nov. 11-17: 1. The Orchard Lake St. Mary's varsity Eaglets continue their quest to repeat as state champions in the fourth round of the Michigan High School Athletic Association football playoffs. The team plays against familiar opposition this week in Battle Creek Harper Creek, who they beat last year en route to the title. Kickoff is Saturday at 1 p.m. 2. Sandra Maxine Layne of West Bloomfield is scheduled to return to court Thursday at 8:30 a.m. for a continuated pretrial hearing. Layne is accused of shooting her grandson, Jonathan Hoffman, 17, several times at their home on Brookview Lane in May. 3. The Township Planning Commission will meet Tuesday to decide how to use future funds for the 2012-13 …
42.525659
-83.437503
31150 Haggerty Rd, Farmington Hills, MI
Red Cross Donation Center
/articles/this-week-in-west-bloomfield-5-things-to-know-3a101534
/locations/8129745
42.558062
-83.373003
West Bloomfield Town Hall
4550 Walnut Lake Rd, West Bloomfield, MI
/articles/this-week-in-west-bloomfield-5-things-to-know-3a101534
1855449
/locations/8129746
Thursday, July 12, 2012
Sandra Layne, 74, stood mute being arraigned on an open charge of murder in shooting death of grandson Jonathan Hoffman, 17, in May.
PONTIAC — Sandra Layne, 74, a former schoolteacher, stood mute Thursday morning at her arraignment on an open charge of murder and possession of a firearm in the commission of a felony. Prosecutors say Jonathan Hoffman, 17, died May 18 as a result of multiple gunshot wounds to his upper body at the hands of Layne, his grandmother, in the West Bloomfield condominium which she owns on Brookview Lane. To stand mute means that a not guilty plea was entered on Layne's behalf. She did not speak during the arraignment. With a thin smile in an orange jumpsuit, Layne gestured to family from the jury box of Circuit Court Judge Denise Langford Morris while in court. The charges were not read aloud and a pre-trial status conference was scheduled for …
42.65302
-83.3279
1200 N Telegraph Rd, Pontiac, MI
Oakland County Circuit Court
/articles/grandmother-of-slain-west-bloomfield-arraigned
/locations/7411519
Sandra Layne, 74, expected to be arraigned on charge of open murder in shooting death of grandson Jonathan Hoffman, 17, in May.
We communicate heavily with West Bloomfield Patch fans on Facebook and Twitter — we don't want you to be left out, either! Sandra Layne, 74, a former schoolteacher, has arraignment scheduled at Oakland County Circuit Court in front of Judge Denise Langford Morris Thursday at 8:30 a.m. Layne was bound over for trial last week by Judge Kimberly Small on an open charge of murder and possession of a firearm in the commission of a felony. Prosecutors say Jonathan Hoffman, 17, died May 18 as a result of multiple gunshot wounds to his upper body at the hands of Layne, his grandmother, in the West Bloomfield condominium which she owns on Brookview Lane. Layne physically expressed pain last week as the 911 call which Hoffman made as he said he was…
42.65302
-83.3279
1200 N Telegraph Rd, Pontiac, MI
Oakland County Circuit Court
/articles/grandmother-of-slain-west-bloomfield-teen-due-in-court-84bc4323
/locations/7409740
Tuesday, July 3, 2012
We didn’t put everything we had into a story from preliminary exam for a grandmother who will go on trial for murder. We want to tell you what we had and why we kept it to ourselves.
"If it bleeds, it leads" — not only an idiom explaining the philosophy of what goes into headline-writing, but also a reason why many journalists get into news writing. The ambition of many friends and colleagues I've had has taken them into war zones and court rooms with some notion that if we as journalists can't get to where the action's happening, someone else will. On Monday, West Bloomfield Patch reported on a chilling 911 call made by 17-year-old Jonathan Hoffman after allegedly being shot in cold blood by his grandmother, Sandra Layne, 74, who attorneys say had taken him in after his parents moved out-of-state. That’s a story we were obligated to report. That’s a story we were also obligated to report with particularly keen …
42.5767
-83.28098
48th District Court, State of Michigan
4280 Telegraph Rd, Bloomfield Hills, MI
/articles/what-we-left-out-of-our-report-about-a-teen-who-died-and-why
1540806
/locations/7368957
Monday, July 2, 2012
911 call placed by Jonathan Hoffman, 17, in which the West Bloomfield native pleads for his life, is played in open court Monday.
Are you signed up for the Patch daily newsletter? Don't wait, get Patched-in now! BLOOMFIELD TOWNSHIP — Jonathan Hoffman called 911 and pleaded for help after being shot, in a recording played at his grandmother's preliminary examination at 48th District Court Monday. "My grandma shot me," Hoffman said. "I'm going to die. Help me." Prosecutors say Hoffman, 17, died May 18 as a result of multiple gunshot wounds to his upper body at the hands of Sandra Layne, 74, in the West Bloomfield condominium which she owns on Brookview Lane. Layne was bound over for trial to Oakland County Circuit Court by Judge Kimberly Small on an open charge of murder and possession of a firearm in the commission of a felony. During the six-minute call, Hoffman …
42.5767
-83.28098
48th District Court, State of Michigan
4280 Telegraph Rd, Bloomfield Hills, MI
/articles/west-bloomfield-grandmother-murder
1540806
/locations/7361693
myron gaines
12:17 am on Wednesday, March 20, 2013
dat chit cray more ›