VISTA -- Opening statements are scheduled Monday in the retrial of a Carlsbad woman who fatally shot her school-teacher husband in the couple's home more than three years ago.
Julie Elizabeth Harper, 42, was acquitted last year of first-degree murder in the Aug. 7, 2012, shooting death of Jason Harper. A jury deadlocked 9-3 in favor of acquitting the defendant of second-degree murder.
Harper testified in her first trial that she shot her 39-year-old husband accidentally, but feared for her life when he came at her in a rage during an argument in their bedroom. The couple's three young children were downstairs watching cartoons when the shooting occurred.
Harper, a stay-at-home mom, testified that her husband raped her at least 30 times and was verbally and physically abusive for more than a decade.
Deputy District Attorney Keith Watanabe told jurors that Harper shot her husband to death, then -- instead of calling for help -- left the home with the children and a "getaway bag."
The defendant, who filed for divorce five days before the killing, surrendered to police at her father's Scripps Ranch home a day after the homicide.
