No death penalty in homeless slaying case

[voivod]

FORT LAUDERDALE, Florida (AP) -- Three teenagers charged with beating a homeless man to death with a baseball bat as he slept on a park bench won't face the death penalty if convicted, prosecutors said Friday.


William Ammons and Brian Hooks, both 19, would have been eligible for the ultimate penalty, but the third defendant was only 17 at the time, so prosecutors chose not to seek the death penalty against any of them.

"As a matter of proportion, it would have been improper for the death penalty to be sought," said Brian Cavanagh, the assistant state attorney prosecuting the case.

The teens could now face up to life in prison if found guilty of first-degree murder in the January 12, 2005, killing of Norris Gaynor, 45.

Ammons, Hooks and Thomas Daugherty also are charged with attempted murder in two other beatings of homeless men in Fort Lauderdale.

One was caught on a surveillance camera and was broadcast around the world, helping detectives crack the case.

All three teens have pleaded not guilty and are being held without bail. No trial date has been set.

Hooks' and Ammons' lawyers said the prosecutors' decision not to seek the death penalty was proper.

"It takes courage. They didn't just do something that would have been politically expedient," said attorney Sam Halpern, who represents Ammons. "He's been living under the shadow of a possible death sentence for about a year."

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 2005 that people convicted of crimes committed when they were under 18 cannot face execution.

[LLFHS]

Great.....tax dollars being spent to keep these wastes of space alive? I don't fuckin think so.

"As a matter of proportion, it would have been improper for the death penalty to be sought," said Brian Cavanagh, the assistant state attorney prosecuting the case.

Well fuck you.

[ZeoBandit]

Great.....tax dollars being spent to keep these wastes of space alive? I don't fuckin think so.

Well fuck you.

I've read that it is actually cheaper to have them serve life sentences then to execute them, because of all the appeals they get.

[LLFHS]

I've read that it is actually cheaper to have them serve life sentences then to execute them, because of all the appeals they get.

Hadn't thought about it that way. So the....court costs, lawyer's fees all pile up on top of each other and manage to surpass the cost of a lifetime of meals and whever else these little pricks are gonna need? Access to reading material, health care, possibly getting a degree behind bars?

I see the logic, but I don't see the numbers adding up quite that way.

[ZeoBandit]

I have a hard time believing it myself, but that is what I have heard.