[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----FLA., ALA., CALIF.

[Rick Halperin]

Feb. 18



FLORIDA----female death sentence overturned

Death Sentence Tossed for Florida Mom of 'Baby Lollipops'


A Florida mother condemned to die for the beating death of her young son known 
as "Baby Lollipops" deserves a new trial because of inflammatory and improper 
statements made by prosecutors during closing arguments, the state Supreme 
Court ruled Thursday.

The justices tossed out the 2011 murder conviction and death sentence for Ana 
Maria Cardona, 54, marking the second time the court has reversed her case. 
Cardona's original 1992 conviction and death sentence was overturned because 
prosecutors failed to disclose key evidence to the defense.

This time, the court found that Miami-Dade prosecutors crossed the line in 
closing arguments during the second trial, repeatedly attempting to stir up 
juror emotions and sympathy for the 3-year-old victim, Lazaro Figueroa. 
Testimony showed the boy had been severely beaten and suffered from chronic 
neglect, weighing only 18 pounds when his body was found in some bushes in 
Miami Beach in 1990.

Police dubbed the boy "Baby Lollipops" because he was wearing a T-shirt with a 
lollipop image when he was found.

The Supreme Court, in a 28-page decision, said the trial judge erred in 
allowing prosecutors to repeatedly use the phrase "justice for Lazaro" in 
closing arguments to the jury. Prosecutors were also wrong, the justices added, 
in describing the defense case as "diversionary" and calling Cardona herself a 
"drama expert" who belonged on Spanish-language telenovela program.

Cardona's lawyers objected 58 times but Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Reemberto Diaz 
overruled nearly all of them.

"As we have stated for decades, we expect and require prosecutors, as 
representatives of the state, to refrain from engaging in inflammatory and 
abusive arguments, to maintain their objectivity, and to behave in a 
professional manner," the justices wrote in a 6-1 opinion. "All of these 
arguments used by the prosecutor in this case were clearly improper."

Justice Ricky Polston dissented but did not issue an opinion.

Miami-Dade State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle said prosecutors will try 
Cardona on murder and other charges a 3rd time in a case that his riveted South 
Florida for decades.

"The cruelty involved in young Lazaro Figueroa's murder deserves our 
fundamental commitment," Rundle said in a statement.

According to testimony at both previous trials, Lazaro's badly beaten and 
scarred body was found by utility workers in Miami Beach on Nov. 2, 1990. 
Police did not immediately know the boy's identity and decided to call him 
"Baby Lollipops" as they distributed fliers door-to-door and held frequent news 
conferences.

Eventually, the investigation led Miami Beach detectives in December to 
Cardona, who had moved with her other 2 children and her companion to a motel 
in Osceola County. She initially claimed, police said, that the boy had fallen 
and hit his head on a tile floor while jumping on a bed. She also claimed her 
companion, Olivia Gonzalez, had left the boy in front of the Miami Beach home.

2 juries rejected the defense case, finding Cardona guilty of killing her son 
and of regularly abusing the child. The jury in the 2nd trial recommended the 
death penalty by a minimal 7-5 vote, which the judge then imposed.

Under a recent U.S. Supreme Court decision, Florida judges will no longer have 
final say in imposing capital punishment. A bill currently proposed in the 
state Legislature would switch that authority solely to juries and would 
require a minimum 10-2 vote to impose death.

(source: ABC news)






ALABAMA:

Prosecutors Seek Death Penalty for Murder of Elderly Man


Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty for 3 men charged with killing an 
85-year old man during a home invasion in Cusseta.

A Lee County judge found probable cause to charge all 3 defendants - Robert 
Jamal Wiggins, Khaleef Javante Marshall and Devonte Travon Mike - with capital 
murder during a hearing Wednesday.

The 3 defendants are charged with the slaying of Bennie Rudd, who was killed by 
intruders at his home Jan. 19. Rudd's wife told police that armed men wearing 
ski masks forced open their front door and immediately began shooting at them.

The judge sent the case to a grand jury.

(source: alabamanews.net)






CALIFORNIA:

DA to Seek Death Penalty in Mysterious Triple-Killing Case----Carlo Mercado, 
30, has pleaded not guilty to killing brothers Salvatore and Gianni Belvedere 
and Ilona Flint in December 2013


Prosecutors will seek the death penalty against a San Diego man accused in the 
mysterious slayings of 3 victims that began with a shooting on Christmas Eve 
2013 in the parking lot of Westfield Mission Valley mall.

Carlo Mercado, 30, appeared in court Thursday and pleaded not guilty in the 
killings of brothers Salvatore "Sal" Belvedere, 22, and Gianni Belvedere, 24, 
and Gianni's fianc???e, Ilona Flint, 22.

Mercado, staring straight ahead, appeared somber and was soft-spoken in court, 
only replying "yes" and "yes sir" when a judge spoke to him. He's slated to 
appear in court once again on Mar. 17 for a status conference.

Deputy District Attorney Brian Erickson said the District Attorney's office 
will seek the death penalty in this case, which has been many twists and turns 
over the past 2 years.

Erickson said it does not appear there was any connection whatsoever between 
Mercado and the victims, and said the slayings appear random, or perhaps the 
result of a "road rage" incident.

He said it does not appear the killings were a hit, as has been speculated with 
this case in the past.

"There are no facts that would support anything that indicates that this was 
some sort of professional hit," he added.

Still, the motive for the triple killings remains shrouded in mystery.

Triple Homicide Suspect Found Mentally Competent "It appears to be a chance, 
road rage-type incident where Mr. Mercado shot 1 of the victims and then came 
back and shot the other 2," Erickson explained. "It appears to be a random act 
that was taken upon these people, for no reason whatsoever."

Erickson said that, because this is a death penalty case, Mercado's trial may 
take longer to get moving. He said a trial date has not yet been set, but said 
his goal is to get the case tried within this year.

Mercado's defense attorney, Gary Gibson, said he is disappointed with the DA's 
decision to pursue the death penalty in this case given his client's history of 
mental health concerns.

Gibson said Mercado is a "deeply damaged individual with significant mental 
health issues." Up until this case, Gibsons said Mercado had lived a "blameless 
life" and had been mentally healthy.

Erickson argued that Mercado's mental health issues are directly linked to this 
case and include depression "based on his situation."

Mercado's attorney said this case will be difficult to prove for prosecutors at 
trial.

"I think that they're struggling for a motive in this case. There is no 
connection between the victims in this case, no connection between Mr. Mercado 
and the victims," Gibson said.

"It appears the homicides occurred at 2 completely separate times - possibly in 
2 separate places - so I think that it's going to be difficult to put all of 
the pieces of this case together."

On Dec. 24, 2013, Flint and Sal were found critically shot inside their car 
parked outside a Macy's department store at Westfield Mission Valley mall in 
San Diego's Mission Valley area. Flint, who called 911 to report the shooting 
and their location, died at the scene. Sal was hospitalized and died a few days 
later. Flint's fiance and Sal's brother, Gianni, went missing around the same 
time of the Christmas Eve killings. On Jan. 17, 2014, police found Gianni's 
badly decomposed body stuffed into the trunk of his own car parked at a 
shopping center in Riverside, California, more than 100 miles away from San 
Diego. He, too, had been shot to death.

For 6 months, police reported no breaks in the baffling triple homicide case.

On June 20, 2014, the San Diego Police Department confirmed officers had 
arrested Mercado as the suspect in the 3 slayings. Mercado pleaded not guilty 
to 3 counts of 1st-degree murder. Also in early September 2014, search warrants 
obtained by NBC 7 revealed the exhaustive investigation into the triple 
homicide case, but no clear motive for the killings.

In December 2014 the families of the 3 victims filed a wrongful death lawsuit 
against Westfield, LLC, accusing the Mission Valley mall of negligence in the 
deaths of Flint and the Belvedere brothers, claiming the mall failed to provide 
sufficient lighting and monitoring security cameras in the area to keep patrons 
safe. That lawsuit also listed Mercado as a defendant, accusing him of malice 
and oppression in the killings.

On Nov. 3, 2014, a San Diego judge ruled Mercado was not competent to stand 
trial in the triple killings, and ordered he be treated at Patton State 
Hospital for 3 years until he was found competent to assist in his own defense.

That ruling came after reports submitted by 2 psychiatrists and 1 psychologist 
diagnosed Mercado as schizophrenic, psychotic and suffering from catatonic 
depression, Mercado's attorney said at the time.

In September 2015, Mercado was returned to San Diego Central Jail after 
evaluators from Patton State Hospital found him competent to stand trial. The 
defense then requested a competency trial for Mercado.

On Dec. 14, 2015, a judge ruled Mercado was competent to stand trial.

(source: nbcsandiego.com)