During her murder trial this year, Ashley Benefield gave hours of emotional testimony about the abuse she said she suffered at the hands of her estranged husband — and about what happened in the terrifying moments before she fatally shot Doug Benefield in an act she described . -defense.
But not everyone was convinced by the former ballerina’s apparent tears.
Assistant U.S. Attorney for Florida’s 12th Judicial District, Suzanne O’Donnell, told “Dateline” that, believing she was performing — and not actually crying — she asked for the lights in the courtroom to be turned on. And she had Ashley step off the witness stand to reenact her moment-by-moment account of the fatal shooting of Doug, 58, in her home south of Tampa on Sept. 27, 2020, O’Donnell said.
For more on the case, watch “Deadly Dance” tonight on “Dateline” at 10 ET/9 CT.
What followed was one of the most heartbreaking conversations during a six-day trial in which prosecutors accused Ashley of exaggerating and fabricating abuse claims in an effort to win a lengthy custody battle “at any cost.”
“Once I realized she wasn’t really crying, I knew she had to go before the jury,” O’Donnell told “Dateline.” “When she steps down, she’s literally steps away. And I wanted them to see that.”
Ashley’s attorney, Neil Taylor, said it was “insensitive” for prosecutors to have his client reenact the shooting. She suffered constant breakdowns during the procedure, during which she shed authentic tears, Taylor said.
Ashley and Doug Benefield.
“Whether or not the jury believed those were real tears, all I can tell you is that they acquitted her of murder,” he told Dateline.
Although the jury found Ashley not guilty of the most serious charge prosecutors sought, the jury convicted her of manslaughter. If convicted on December 3, she faces up to 30 years in prison.
After the verdict, Taylor requested a new trial due to juror misconduct. The judge has not yet ruled on the claim.
A nasty custody battle
During the trial, prosecutors alleged that Ashley fatally shot Doug during a contentious custody battle, which included some abuse allegations that O’Donnell called “fictitious.” The prosecutor said the physical evidence of the shooting did not match Ashley’s claim that she shot in self-defense.
Taylor countered that his client only did what any law-abiding citizen would be expected to do with an abusive partner: She reported the alleged abuse in an attempt to draw authorities’ attention to his behavior.
In testimony, Ashley said her estranged husband was controlling and volatile. While they lived in South Carolina, she said, he threw a loaded gun at her and shot it into the ceiling during an argument before threatening to kill himself. Another time, she testified, he hit their dog so hard that it knocked him unconscious.
Ashley Benefield.
In South Carolina, where the Benefields lived together, they received court orders in 2017 banning them from contacting each other. After Ashley moved to Florida while pregnant with their daughter, she believed he violated the order, she testified.
He appeared to be stalking her, she testified at the trial and sent a package she believed contained poison. In 2018, she requested a new court order that would have barred him from contact with her and given her custody of their daughter.
During a hearing in those proceedings, Doug admitted to honking at the ceiling — calling it a “horrible decision” — but denied threatening to kill himself or throw a gun at her, according to a transcript of the hearing. He acknowledged hitting their dog, but said he didn’t hit him like “a punching bag.”
Doug denied violating the restraining order or stalking her, the transcript said, and the judge in the case said there was no “spintilla credible evidence” that Ashley had been poisoned.
The judge accused Ashley of “inducing” tears when she felt it was appropriate and gave Doug immediate access to their child, the transcript said.
Drama in the courtroom
The moment O’Donnell asked for the lights to be turned on during Ashley’s criminal trial came on the fourth day, near the end of her time on the witness stand.
O’Donnell had questioned Ashley about her quick courtship with Doug – they married thirteen days after meeting, and she gave birth less than two years later – and her allegations of abuse.
After about an hour, the prosecutor began guiding Ashley through the day she fatally shot her estranged husband.
Ashley testified that at the time she was preparing to move with her mother to an inherited home in Maryland. Doug planned to move there as well and live separately in an effort to reconcile with his estranged wife, O’Donnell said.
Taylor said Ashley never intended to reconcile — “Doug Benefield knew full well that this relationship was over,” he said in court — and described the move as another unwanted pursuit of his client.
Ashley and Doug Benefield.
On September 27, 2020, Doug had gone to Ashley’s house to help her pack. After an argument, Ashley testified, Doug punched her in the face and refused to leave when she asked him to.
Ashley testified that she ran to her bedroom, grabbed a gun and closed the door. Doug opened it, she said, and told her with an expletive that she was “done.”
“Is that why you feared for your life?” O’Donnell asked.
“Yes,” Ashley testified, appearing to be crying.
O’Donnell asked for the lights to be turned on. Moments later, she instructed Ashley to step off the witness stand and reenact the confrontation.
From the well of the courtroom, Ashley testified that she raised her gun and told Doug to stop. He took a “fighting stance,” she said, and then began walking slowly toward her.
O’Donnell urged her to show what he was doing with his hands.
After struggling with the demonstration, Ashley said, “I don’t know. I’m not a fighter.”
When Doug lunged at her, Ashley testified, she pulled the trigger. He kept walking toward her, she said, and she kept shooting.
O’Donnell asked for more details. But after about a two-minute reenactment, she told Ashley – who appeared to be sobbing – to sit down.
Ashley and Doug Benefield.
Moments later, the judge called a suspension.
For prosecutors, the exchange was a combination of theatrics and scant details. To Rebecca Freel, another assistant district attorney who prosecuted the case, Ashley’s eyes did not appear swollen and her face looked the same as it did before she left the witness stand.
“We thought that was significant,” Freel told “Dateline.”
But Barbara Russell, a psychologist and therapist who treated Ashley and spoke to NBC News with her permission, said emotional expression can vary widely from person to person, and she criticized prosecutors for portraying themselves as experts in the field.
Russell said she never knew Ashley was deceitful, nor did she believe she would have shot her estranged husband unless her life was in immediate danger.
“The fact that she doesn’t cry enough tears to please the prosecutor doesn’t change that,” Russell said. “They prosecuted a victim.”
This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
