Immigration fraud is a crime. It occurs when an individual filing for a green card or citizenship makes material misrepresentations to the immigration court concerning any questions asked. It also occurs when someone hires someone else to pose as their wife so that they can become full citizens or lawful permanent residents.
In this case, a Romanian man paid a Florida woman to pose as his wife so that he could become a full citizen, paying her $500 a month for the effort. But when her live-in boyfriend caught wind that she was married to a foreign national, he murdered her.
Yusef Jamal Green has since been charged with the murder, but his case remains in limbo as the courts delay murder trials with pandemic still in effect. His attorneys will put in a plea of insanity on his behalf. His attorneys argue that the appropriate remedy is to get Green the help he needs at a forensic psychiatric facility instead of spending the rest of his life behind bars in prison.
What Happened?
Ursula White Lemmons spoke to her granddaughter every day. After three days of not responding to her texts, Lemmons became worried. She went to her granddaughter’s apartment (which she owned) and noticed Green’s vehicle was not parked out front. When she went upstairs, she knocked on the door, but no one responded. She peeked in through the window and saw a candle burning. She immediately called the police.
Police entered the apartment through an unlocked window. They immediately smelled the remains of a decomposing corpse and noted a substantial amount of blood on the floor. They found the victim wrapped in a sheer and bed covered behind a couch. The room was filled with scented candles to mask the odor. Since the front door was locked, they ruled out a break-in. The suspect had tracked blood all over the house. A notebook found in a closet written by Green said that the victim had been “unfaithful”.
Why an Insanity Verdict is Unlikely
One could argue that anyone willing to commit murder has some kind of psychological problem. But the legal definition of insanity requires an extremely strict standard be reached. In successful insanity cases, a defendant proves that they thought they were doing something good by harming the other person. They would need to prove that their behavior was entirely influenced by a psychiatric event.
In this case, you have a defendant who may have severe psychiatric symptoms murdering someone and attempting to cover it up because they likely knew that if others found the body they would charge him with murder. In other words, he has all the awareness he needs to be deemed legally sane. But his lawyers contend that a two-decade history of psychiatric problems exempts him from the death penalty. Insofar as it prevents a death sentence, insanity may be a good plea.
Talk to a West Palm Beach Criminal Defense Attorney
If you’ve been charged with a serious crime, call the West Palm Beach criminal attorneys at The Skier Law Firm, P.A. We can help.