WARWICK — The defense rested yesterday after calling a handful of witnesses in the murder retrial of James Richardson, accused of murdering a teacher’s aide in 2005.

Richardson, 41, of Cranston, faces charges of first-degree murder and burglary in the death of Margaret Duffy-Stephenson, who was found brutally stabbed in her Blackmore Street home on Nov. 18, 2005. His first trial, last year, ended in a hung jury.

Today, Superior Court Judge Francis J. Darigan Jr. will instruct the jurors on the rule of law they are to apply and closing arguments will begin. Darigan said that he expects the jury to have the case by 1 p.m.

If no verdict is reached today, the jurors will reconvene on Monday to restart deliberations.

Defense attorney Mark Smith finished his case yesterday by calling Edythe Richardson, the defendant’s mother, to the stand to reinforce his client’s alibi. Officials placed the time of Duffy-Stephenson’s death between the night of Nov. 16 and the early morning hours of Nov. 17.

On the night of Nov. 16, 2005, Richardson said she stayed up for most of the night, sleeping only a few hours before waking her husband and grandson up for work the next morning. She said she never heard any unusual noises or anyone leaving the house. She said her son, James, came downstairs the next morning around 9 a.m. and had coffee with her.

The testimony, said prosecutor Thomas O’Brien, included more details about her son’s whereabouts than Richardson initially told the police when she was questioned by them.

Smith originally planned to call James O. Stephenson III — Duffy-Stephenson’s husband — as a witness, but the attorneys were able to agree on some facts regarding how much money Stephenson believed was in the safe when it was burglarized, eliminating the need for his testimony.

Prosecutors Randall White and O’Brien presented 22 witnesses over the last three weeks. Smith presented 3 witnesses over two days.

tbuford@projo.com