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| 12-year-old Florida killer wins new trial |
| By Seattle Times |
| Published: 12/11/2003 |
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Lionel Tate, the 12-year-old killer who transformed the national debate over juvenile sentencing laws, won a new trial yesterday. "That's fantastic," Tate screamed, according to his lawyer, who called him yesterday morning to break the news. Defense attorney Richard Rosenbaum said he also could hear officers and fellow inmates cheering when they heard the news at the Okeechobee maximum-security youth facility. "I don't think anyone believes that a child should go away for life," Rosenbaum said. But that's what happened after Tate killed his 6-year-old playmate, battering her as his mother slept upstairs. A grand jury charged Tate as an adult with first-degree murder. Tate then relied on advice from his mother and trial attorney Jim Lewis in rejecting a three-year plea deal. He instead claimed he had been mimicking the moves of professional wrestlers. When a jury convicted him, the judge said had no choice but to send Tate to jail for life. The 4th District Court of Appeal in West Palm Beach said the facts showed Tate, who turns 17 next month, deserved a more thorough evaluation of his competency to understand the process. Rosenbaum, on appeal, argued that Tate had to be incompetent to reject the state's original plea offer - three years in a juvenile facility - when the alternative was life in prison if convicted. During post-trial hearings, he was playing with pens and pencils, drawing pictures, apparently oblivious to the importance of what was going on. Tate was 12 and weighed 170 pounds when he fatally beat his 6-year-old, 48-pound playmate, Tiffany Eunick, in his home in 1999. The appeals court acknowledged the brutality of the act - the 35 injuries including a broken skull, bleeding in the brain and injuries to most of her organs. Tate prosecutor Ken Padowitz, who since has gone into private practice has long defended a grand jury's decision to charge Tate as an adult with first-degree murder, although Padowitz said after trial that the mandatory life sentence was too harsh a punishment. Tate could be out of jail soon after Christmas. Florida Attorney General Charlie Crist must decide whether to appeal to the state Supreme Court, ask the appeals court for a rehearing or hand it back to the Broward State Attorney's Office for another prosecution. If prosecutors decide not to appeal, Tate's lawyer will ask a judge to let the 16-year-old out on bail while he awaits his second trial. The case likely could end in a plea bargain. |
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