Overview
- On Monday, with her trial scheduled to begin, prosecutors are expected to formally offer Golden a plea to involuntary manslaughter carrying two years of probation.
- Golden says she acted in self-defense after her partner, Calvin Sidney, attacked her at a baby shower in October 2022 when she was eight months pregnant and that she stabbed him during the confrontation.
- Prosecutors previously offered a second-degree murder plea with two years of probation, which Golden rejected because her lawyers said a conviction would follow her for life.
- A judge initially set Golden’s bond at $2 million before it was reduced to $50,000 after community fundraising, and Golden has complied with daily pretrial check-ins while raising her young daughter.
- The case has drawn domestic-violence advocates and public-defender scrutiny over how Black women who use force against alleged abusers are charged, and the plea decision could shape how similar cases are resolved or go to trial.