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General discussion

Florida 'Wrestling murder' conviction overturned

Dec 10, 2003 2:59AM PST

Discussion is locked

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Re:Florida 'Wrestling murder' conviction overturned
Dec 10, 2003 3:11AM PST

Hi Dave,

What does cruel and unusual have to do with it? That wasn't the grounds for overturning the conviction.

I find this a rather strange ruling. Apparently the appelate court upheld that the girl was brutally slain by Tate (I got this from a TV report and paraphrasing what was read from the beginning of the opinion). So the only issue was that of Tate's competancy. Although your article states:

His attorney, Richard Rosenbaum, has said that Tate's refusal of the plea offer shows how "clueless" he was about court proceedings

As I recall from lengthy discussions back during the trial and conviction, it was the mother who declined the plea deal, not Tate. The defense put on the "pro wrestling copycat" defense, and only AFTER the jury didn't buy that did they bring up the issue of competence at his sentencing hearing. Granted, he probably should have been tested for competence as a matter of course pre-trial, but it sure looked like the defense rolled the dice and figured they could always try for a second shot if their gamble failed.

So now the defense will assert incompetance to stand trial in an adult court after the fact? Why didn't they the first time? And will his former police officer mom, who is now serving with the Army in Puerto Rico (again according to TV reports) now reconsider plea options, etc.? AIR, she still thinks this was an accident!

Evie Happy

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Re: Florida 'Wrestling murder' conviction overturned
Dec 10, 2003 11:55AM PST

Hi, Evie.

The local news station's question of the day was whether the sentence in that case fit the crime, or was too harsh in one so young. For the first time in the poll's history everyone that got on the air (about Cool felt the punishment was too harsh, though I see the web site has that opinion prevailing only 68-32.
-- Dave K.
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The opinions expressed above are my own,
and do not necessarily reflect those of CNET!

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Re:Re:Florida 'Wrestling murder' conviction overturned
Dec 10, 2003 9:34PM PST

"AIR, she still thinks this was an accident!" In her defense, she's a parent. No parent wants to even imagine their child is a killer.

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Re:Re:Re:Florida 'Wrestling murder' conviction overturned
Dec 10, 2003 11:08PM PST

Hi MK,

I dunno. Obviously not having kids myself I can't put myself in her exact shoes. But I guess I just think given all the information that came out in the trial if she still to this day can't recognize his crime, she herself needs help.
The autopsy findings were horrific. And while I have reservations about trying him as an adult with adult sentencing rules, I really fault her/his lawyers in this case. They rolled the dice with the kid's life and in the end when they didn't get what they wanted, they cried foul.

I think, sadly, with the increase in juvenile violent crime, a third judicial system needs to be established to properly handle it. I don't think life w/o parole solves anything here, but neither does releasing him at age 18 with sealed criminal records. They also have to deal with the inconsistency of the law that allows the parent/guardian to make the decisions re: a negotiated plea, but then treats him as an adult before the court.

Evie Happy