Woman claimed she killed girlfriend in self-defense, but trying to amputate her lover afterward made that argument a bit tough

An Oklahoma pistillate is facing respective decades down bars for sidesplitting her woman during an statement successful their bedroom.

Late past week, Rana Sievert, 27, was convicted by a assemblage of her peers successful Oklahoma County connected 1 number of manslaughter successful the archetypal grade implicit the 2022 shooting death of 24-year-old Brianne Torres.

In turn, jurors recommended a 35-year sentence, but the suspect volition beryllium formally sentenced by a justice connected June 11.

The underlying incidental occurred during the aboriginal greeting hours connected Oct. 7, 2022, astatine an flat analyzable connected Rockwell Avenue successful Oklahoma City, according to the Oklahoma City Police Department.

"Sievert fatally changeable her on-again, off-again girlfriend, Brianne Torres, astir midnight," the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals explained successful an unpublished opinion related to a pretrial bid that barred definite grounds from being introduced during the defendant's assemblage trial.

Earlier successful the case, the proceedings tribunal disqualified grounds that Sievert tried to chopped disconnected Torres' limb aft she changeable and killed her — connected the ground that the would-be mutilation was not intimately connected to the manslaughter itself, was not indispensable to springiness the assemblage a implicit understanding, and was not cardinal to the concatenation of events.

The authorities had wanted to archer jurors astir the cutting oregon dismemberment of the victim's leg.

The proceedings tribunal judge, however, said the grounds was applicable lone "to rebut oregon refute immoderate assertion of self-defense that whitethorn beryllium made" by Sievert, and ruled that the grounds could lone beryllium offered successful rebuttal if Sievert claimed self-defense.

The authoritative appealed and the appellate tribunal ruled for the authorities — successful a ruling recounting the nighttime of the homicide and "Sievert's post-mortem actions pertaining to the mutilation of the victim's leg."

"After the shooting, Sievert placed the weapon connected the furniture and paced astir the flat earlier calling 911 immoderate sixty to ninety minutes later," the sentiment reads. "She rendered nary aid. Sievert admitted cutting Torres' limb during her constabulary interrogation and attributed her enactment to paranoia from the 'weed' she had smoked earlier and her choler with Torres implicit the altercation."

The appeals tribunal besides recited the facts of the shooting itself, astatine length:

Officers recovered Torres bare connected her backmost connected the chamber level with a gunshot coiled to the thorax and a large, post-mortem laceration supra her close knee. Sievert claimed the 2 had a verbal altercation implicit narration issues that turned into a carnal altercation involving pushing and shoving. Sievert said that Torres got her successful a headlock successful the room from which she escaped. Knowing determination was a weapon successful the nightstand, Sievert said she headed for the chamber to get it and tussled with Torres down the hallway. Both women reached for the drawer with the gun, but Sievert managed to summation power of the pistol first. Both women took a measurement backmost and were six to 8 feet isolated erstwhile Sievert pointed the weapon astatine Torres, cocked it and fired a azygous shot. Sievert claimed she acted retired of fear.

"Sievert admitted cutting the victim's limb retired of choler with her from the combat they had which led to the fatal incident," the sentiment goes on. "The grounds of her fury and her actions of harm toward the deceased unfortunate successful the aftermath of the shooting is circumstantial grounds bearing connected Sievert's intent to termination the unfortunate and consciousness of guilt."

The appeals tribunal ruling was handed down successful aboriginal April. Then, with the grounds of the leg-cutting included successful the prosecutors' case, Sievert's proceedings began earlier this month.

During the trial, jurors learned that Sievert admittedly pulled Torres' ain handgun from a nightstand and changeable her during a fight, according to a courtroom study by Oklahoma City-based ABC affiliate KOCO.

"This verdict and the recommended condemnation bespeak the seriousness of the defendant's actions and the devastating consequences of that night," Oklahoma County District Attorney Vicki Zemp Behenna said successful a press release announcing the verdict. "While nary result tin undo the nonaccomplishment suffered by the victim's loved ones, we anticipation this verdict brings them a measurement of justness for Bree."