The Large Penis Defense Worked! Richard Patterson Found Not Guilty

Richard Patterson

Richard Patterson, who’s attorney claimed that his girlfriend accidentally choked to death on his large member during oral sex, as opposed to being intentionally choked, has been found not guilty by a jury this afternoon. Patterson did not take the stand, but the Defense presented testimony from the former county medical examiner that her injuries could be consistent with choking to death on his member. Medical testimony from the state called that theory into question, but the associate medical examiner could not state for certain the manner of death. The jury was not able to find beyond a reasonable doubt that the death was murder, and Patterson is a free, well-endowed*, man.

In fact, his attorney conceded that the explanation of death while performing oral sex was unlikely, but shifted his focus that the death could have been from a heart attack or other accident. While her body was decomposed, her throat cartilage was not broken, leaving open the possibility of an accidental death. Prosecutors could not prove the cause of death, nor how long she had been dead, which complicated their burden of proof, on an extremely complicated case.

*Presumably well endowed, as the defense decided not to put his penis in evidence, nor to show it to the jury…

#onlyinflorida

The Penis Defense Case is going to the Jury

Richard Patterson

Attorneys for Richard Patterson, accused in the choking death of his girlfriend, Francisca Marquinez, are doing their closing arguments today, and the jury should begin deliberations this afternoon. The case has made headlines after Patterson’s attorney filed a motion to allow the jury to view his client’s penis. Apparently, he decided against the presentation, as he rested the defense case before the court had to rule on the motion. The Defense did present the former Broward County medical examiner, who testified it was possible that the victim could have choked during oral sex. Previously, the state presented testimony from a current associate medical examiner, who testified about why it was unlikely she died this way, but that he could not rule on the manner of death due to the body’s condition when it was discovered. Prosecutors argued in closing that Patterson did not call 911 right away, which might be expected if the injuries really occurred accidentally, in addition to pointing out other statements by Patterson. The jury could reach a verdict later today.

Our original story on the case: https://crimcourts.wordpress.com/2017/05/17/florida-man-to-use-penis-defense-in-murder-trial/

#onlyinflorida

 

Florida’s New Death Penalty Declared Unconstitutional

Florida’s Death Penalty laws are once again in disarray.

The Supreme Court

Last year, the Supreme Court struck down the procedure Florida was using to determine when the death penalty should be imposed, in the Hurst case. That meant that there was functionally no death penalty in the state of Florida. The legislature moved quickly to amend the law to establish a new procedure to prosecute the death penalty in Florida, and a new version was signed into law in March. Now, all that work is out the window…

Judge Milton Hirsch, a circuit judge in Miami-Dade, has ruled that the new procedure is also unconstitutionally inadequate. The Florida procedure does not require a unanimous jury verdict before the death penalty can be imposed. Florida and Alabama are the only states that did not require unanimity, and that specific issue was not discussed by the Supreme Court in the Hurst case. Ultimately, the issue is likely to be appealed to the Florida Supreme court, and potentially the U.S. Supreme Court again, but Judge Hirsch’s opinion is the first to address the issue since the new procedure was passed.

Hirsch was critical of the law, finding that the changes were not enough. He wrote, “Arithmetically the difference between twelve and ten is slight, but the question before me is not a question of arithmetic. It is a question of constitutional law. It is a question of justice.”

Timothy Hurst, currently on Death Row

Meanwhile, the other issue up in the air is whether the Hurst decision is retroactive. That is, are all of the Floridians on death row entitled to new sentencing hearings?- 390 of them are currently on death row. While they would still be subject to a new death sentence, a ruling finding that Hurst is retroactive would likely spare a great number of inmates that the state would not wish to retry their sentencing hearings.

While it seems to be a no-brainer that if the procedure used to impose death was unconstitutional that the sentences could not stand, the courts have often held that these types of rulings are procedural, and do not apply retroactively. It will be interesting to see what the Florida Supreme Court does on the issue. Until then, Florida executions will have to be on hold. The Florida Supreme Court recently heard arguments regarding whether Hurst will mandate that he, and many other similarly situated cases will be reduced to life without parole.

Tracie Hunter’s Guilty Verdict Upheld on Appeal

 Former Judge Tracie Hunter

Former Hamilton County Judge Tracie Hunter’s verdict was upheld on appeal yesterday. The 1st District Court of Appeals in Ohio released their decision yesterday. Her attorney disagrees with the verdict, and has indicated they will be appealing to the Ohio Supreme Court.

One of the issues is that the jury was not polled after reading the verdict. Normally, after a verdict is announced in court, the jury is polled to confirm that the verdict was correctly recorded. Hunter’s attorney asked the judge to do so, but he declined, because he had previously had them make an affirmation. The jury reached a verdict on only one count, and the judge received that verdict and they continued deliberating on the other counts. When the judge got the verdict on the one count, which we later found out was ‘guilty’, he asked the jurors for an affirmation… but he never announced what the verdict was that he was having them affirm.

Now, this wouldn’t be a problem if the jurors agreed on the verdict. However, now three of them have signed affidavits that say if they had been polled at the end of the trial, their verdicts would not have been the same. That’s a problem. However, the law in Ohio apparently does not require that the verdict be published before the jury is polled. That seems counter-intuitive: how can the jury affirm the verdict if the judge hasn’t told them what he believe the verdict to be? I will be curious what the Supreme Court says, and if the appeal doesn’t work, whether there could be a post-conviction motion based on the post-trial affidavits mentioned earlier.

Supreme Court Strikes Down Florida’s Death Penalty Sentencing

The Supreme Court has found that Florida’s unique death penalty sentencing procedure is unconstitutional. The court found years ago that a jury must find the aggravating factors necessary and to makes the ultimate selection of a sentence of death. Florida’s procedure requires the jury to find the factors and to make a recommendation of death, but then allows the judge to make the final decision. The court was not satisfied with this advisory function of the jury. The death penalty sentencing procedure was found to be insufficient and the cases that previously supported it have been overturned by this week’s 8-1 decision.

Some news sites have said that the Court found Florida’s death penalty Unconstitutional. This is incorrect… it was the procedure by which Florida imposes the death sentence that has been found lacking. Currently there are about 365 inmates on Florida’s death row, and probably all a product of this sentencing scheme. Undoubtedly, they will all be raising this issue. The legislature is already considering bills to adjust the sentencing scheme to comport with the court’s ruling.

Convicted Killer Timothy Hurst via FL DOC

However, this decision may not provide relief for many of the inmates already sentenced to death. Generally, a decision won’t be retroactive if it deals with a procedural issue, and this is very much a procedural ruling. It would seem shocking that courts in the future might allow dozens or hundreds of death sentences to stand based on sentences that did not include the Constitutionally required fact finding by juries… but that remains to be seen. We’ll be watching closely.

Here’s the slip opinion in Hurst v. Florida.

Michael Spiegel Convicted in Fort Myers Beach marina Double Homicide

Michael Spiegel Mug Shot

There was never any doubt that he did it, he was apprehended shortly after the crime splattered with the victims’ blood. However, Michael Spiegel’s defense at trial was that he was not sane at the time of the killings. The jury found him guilty in just a couple of hours.

Insanity is an affirmative defense, which means the burden is on the Defendant to prove that he was insane at the time. It’s difficult to do, especially when two people are brutally killed. There was evidence of a long history of mental illness, but the jury did not find it sufficient. The State argued that the steps he took demonstrated planning: which is indicative that he understood the nature and wrongness that he undertook. The finding today doesn’t mean that he wasn’t crazy, but that the jury wasn’t convinced that he was so mentally impaired that he did not appreciate what he was doing or that it was wrong.

There is a 25 year minimum mandatory sentence on the firearm charge. Due to his age, Mr. Spiegel will almost certainly die in prison, even if the judge doesn’t give him a life sentence.

You can read the standard Florida jury instruction on Insanity here.

A look at Racial Disparities in Jury Selection

My friend, fellow BU LAW classmate Jenn Rolnick Borchetta, was on MSNBC discussing racial disparities in jury selection. The problem is twofold: 1. There is a concern that discrimination in jury selection will deny people their Sixth Amendment right to a fair trial and, 2. If potential jurors are struck based on their race, they are being denied their constitutional right to serve on a jury. I don’t know what the answer is, but action probably needs to be taken when the NY Times article this week sounds a lot like the one published five years ago.

Here’s the MSNBC story from Newsnation with Tamron Hall (with video).

Aaron Hernandez Guilty of First Degree Murder

Aaron Hernandez

Former NFL tight end Aaron Hernandez was found guilty today of First Degree Murder in the killing of Odin Lloyd. The jury deliberated for about a week before reaching the verdict. There is no death penalty in Massachusetts, so the judge went ahead and sentenced Hernandez to life in prison, which carries no possibility of parole.

Jurors gave a press conference afterword. They were apparently not impressed by the defense version of the story, and surprised at the fact that his attorney conceded he was present at the scene of the murder. However, they also were pretty moved by the State’s evidence, so they may have found him guilty if the Defense hadn’t present a theory of the case. They just needed a better one, but the evidence didn’t allow it.

Jury Deliberations in the Aaron Hernandez Murder Trial Going on a full Week

Aaron Hernandez

Today represents the fifth full day of deliberations in the murder trial of Aaron Hernandez. Yahoo’s Dan Wetzel points out that this is not an unusual time frame for a Massachusetts murder trial jury, especially on a complicated case like this. The presentation of the trial took 41 days, and the proof appears to be circumstantial, albeit substantial.

Eric Rivera Jury to Resume Deliberations in Sean Taylor Trial #seantaylor

Eric Rivera’s Mug Shot

• The jury will resume deliberations this morning in the Miami trial of Eric Rivera, accused of the murder of football star Sean Taylor

The jury has been deliberating the fate of Eric Rivera, accused of shooting Sean Taylor, since Wednesday. Rivera gave a videotaped confession to his involvement in the crime, including that he was the one who kicked in the door with his Nike Shox shoes, and fired the shot that killed Taylor. He testified at trial that he did not take part in the crime, and that his confession was coerced. Rivera was only 17 at the time, and was not given access to his parents when police questioned him. The State’s case is based almost entirely on the confession. Clearly the jury is grappling with some issues, as their deliberations have carried over several days.

The deliberations have not been without intrigue, as the jury was accidentally allowed access to a law book that had been left in the courtroom. Both sides had the opportunity to request a mistrial, but declined to do so. Generally, everybody involved in a trial does not want a mistrial, as it means starting the trial over from scratch. Often, the Defense is more likely to request it, as a retrial insures their client will not be going to prison in the near future. However, the extensive deliberations must give the Defense some hope that this jury is sympathetic to their argument. Also, a second trial generally favors the State, who has the burden of proof. A trial run increases the likelihood of success at retrial. As it is, this jury could go either way.

Trial Testimony

The jury asked some questions on Friday, and one of the questions related to lesser charges. That could indicate what the jury might be considering. There were additional questions related to the Principal Theory, as well.

After the trial, I will do a follow up discussing why I think the jury has grappled so much with a case that had a recorded confession. Hint, it’s not the prosecution’s fault. Could Rivera walk? I doubt it… that would be a bigger upset than Casey Anthony’s acquittal. But even a conviction to a lesser charge would be a huge defense victory. A hung jury also remains a possibility.

I will try to update as things come up this week. The Miami Herald has had reporters live-tweeting the case. Mad About Trial has video archives of the court proceedings here.