A Howard Circuit Court judge denied bail yesterday for Rodney Maurice Stanley, charged with murder in the stabbing death of a 32-year-old man in August.
Stanley's attorney, James Kraft, said he will argue that the stabbing was self-defense. At the hearing he asserted that his client should not be held in jail for months before trial.
But Assistant State's Attorney Thomas Rafter noted that the victim, Thomas Jefferson Harding, had eight stab wounds - each 6 to 7 inches deep. Judge Diane O. Leasure said she denied the request for bail given the facts of the case and public safety issues.
Stanley, 44, of the 8800 block of Roll Right Court is accused of stabbing Harding on Aug. 17 during a confrontation over the rental of a room at Stanley's apartment in Long Reach.
