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Separate jury acquits family acquaintance of same crime
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PENSACOLA, Florida (CNN) -- A Florida jury Friday found two teenage brothers guilty of killing their father and then setting fire to their house.
Alex King, 13, and his brother Derek, 14, had been charged with first-degree murder in the baseball-bat beating death of their father, Terry King, 40. But the jury found them guilty of a lesser second-degree murder charge "without a weapon." They were also convicted of arson.
About two hours later, a verdict was announced that King family acquaintance Ricky Chavis was not guilty of the same charges. A separate jury had reached a verdict a week earlier for Chavis, but the verdict remained sealed until the King brothers' verdict was announced.
The King brothers may now be sentenced to up to life in prison with the possibility of parole on the murder charge. The maximum penalty for arson is 30 years in prison. If they had been convicted of first-degree murder, they would have faced a mandatory penalty of life in prison without parole.
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Sentencing for the King brothers is scheduled for October 17.
Wilbur King, the boys' paternal grandfather, said he wasn't surprised by the verdict and that he believed "they were capable" of committing the crime.
"I had a feeling my grandsons had a part in my son's murder. I don't hate them. I love them. But I had a gut feeling that they did have a part in it," he told CNN.
He said the two brothers showed no emotion throughout the proceedings, especially Alex.
"When Alex was on the stand describing how his father was killed, there was no emotion, no sobs, no regret. The only time I saw him weep or cry was this afternoon," the grandfather said.
CNN legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin said the acquittal of Chavis makes an appeal by the King brothers more difficult: If Chavis had been found guilty, the judge in the case would have faced the prospect of separate parties being found guilty of the same crime, Toobin said.
The jury returned its verdict against the King brothers after about three hours of deliberations.
Just before the verdict was read, both boys -- wearing button-down shirts and ties, their hair neatly cropped -- chatted with each other and talked with their attorneys.
The young men stood at separate tables as the verdict was announced. Derek showed little emotion, looking straight ahead, glancing down occasionally. Alex stiffened as a worrisome look spread across his face. Derek glanced only once at his younger brother.
The two sat down, with Derek placing his right hand on his face as he rocked nervously back and forth in his chair. Their mother, who was divorced from the boys' father, wept, as did many in the courtroom.
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| Ricky Chavis hears the jury's verdict Friday. | |
When the two boys were led out of the courtroom, both were crying and shaking their heads.
Judge Frank Bell told jurors he appreciated their service and told them they could talk to the news media if they wished.
"You're free to speak, you're free not to speak," he said.
The two boys initially confessed to the killing, but months later they changed their story and blamed Chavis, a 40-year-old man with whom Alex has testified to a relationship that included sex.
Chavis, who was once convicted of child molestation, denied killing King, but both boys testified against him.
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| Kelly Marino, center, mother of the King brothers, reacts to Friday's verdicts against her sons. | |
Chavis still faces another trial next month on charges of lewd and lascivious acts upon a child under 16 years old, a second-degree felony punishable by 15 years in prison. He has pleaded not guilty to that charge.
Prosecutor David Rimmer later confirmed that the judge had informed the attorneys in both cases, though not Chavis, of the acquittal before the boys' trial began, ordering them not to disclose the information.
During the boys' trial, the jurors heard testimony from Alex, and confessions to police from both boys.
"I made sure he was asleep. I got the bat, and I hit him over the head," Derek said in his police confession. "I hit him once and I heard him moan. I was afraid that he might wake up and see us, so I just kept on hitting him -- somewhere around 10 times."
Alex had told jurors that Chavis had coached his brother and him for nearly two days as to what to tell authorities, and that Chavis said he killed their father to "protect" them.
During closing arguments, defense attorneys sought to poke holes in the prosecution's case, pointing out that in Derek's confession he said he struck his dad 10 times in the head, but the medical examiner said the father suffered three blows to the head.
There was no forensic evidence linking the boys to the crime for a reason, the defense said.
"It's the predator, it's the pedophile," said James Stokes, an attorney for Alex. "We know he's a liar, we know he's a thief -- he stole those boys from his father."
Sharon Potter, an attorney for Derek, told jurors they should discount the confession tapes because of numerous inconsistencies and because the two had been coached by Chavis what to tell authorities.
"Without these boys' statements, the police had no evidence against them at all, and Ricky Chavis knew that too," she said. "So why take them in to confess? Because then Ricky Chavis gets away with murder."
Rimmer implored jurors to find the brothers guilty.
"You should judge them by their actions, not their ages," he said. "I respectfully request that you find these two defendants guilty as charged."
