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Not Guilty Plea Entered For Woman Accused In Train Platform Murder

LOS ANGELES (CBS/AP) — A defense attorney has told a Los Angeles jury that a homeless woman who allegedly pushed an 84-year-old woman off a Metro Gold Line platform to her death was an unmedicated schizophrenic who had been released from a hospital three days earlier.

Attorney Laurice Cheung said Thursday that Jackkqueline Pogue is not guilty of murder and entered a plea of not guilty by reason of insanity. Jurors, however, must reach a verdict on the underlying charge of second-degree murder before they address her mental state.

Deputy District Attorney Louis Avila cited statements attributed to Pogue saying she meant to kill the woman. He said in his opening statement that she should be found guilty of murder.

An earlier jury deadlocked on the question of whether Pogue understood the consequences of her actions.

The victim, Betty Sugiyama, and her 86-year-old sister, Mary, were walking on the platform in 2010 when Pogue allegedly stood up and pushed the victim off the platform.

At the time, Mary Sugiyama told The Associated Press that the assailant remained calm, expressionless and didn't try to run away after the attack.

The sisters were part of a larger family of Japanese descent that was sent to a Wyoming internment camp during World War II.

(TM and © Copyright 2013 CBS Local Media, a division of CBS Radio Inc. and its relevant subsidiaries. CBS RADIO and EYE Logo TM and Copyright 2013 CBS Broadcasting Inc. Used under license. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)

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