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Jury About to Begin Deliberations in Case of Two Youngsters Accused of Killing Dad

Aired September 06, 2002 - 10:06   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: At this hour, a jury in Pensacola, Florida, is about to begin deliberations in the case of two Florida youngsters accused of beating their dad to death. But, this whodunnit has a pretty extraordinary twist: another person has already been tried for committing the very same killing, an admission of sorts that the prosecutors really aren't sure who did the killing.
CNN's Mark Potter has been covering the proceedings and is here to sort out the details this morning.

Good morning, Mark.

MARK POTTER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Anderson.

Well, court is in session now, and Judge Frank Bell, just a moment ago, began instructing the jurors in the boys' trial on the law involved this case. The two boys Alex and Derek King are there in the courtroom with their attorneys, listening in. This will take about a half hour, and then the jurors will begin their deliberations. When they do, they will have some very tough choices to make between the two theories of the case, and also over whether there is enough evidence to prove the state's case.

Now the prosecutors' theory is that Alex and Derek King, who are now 13 and 14-years-old, beat their father to death with a baseball bat and then set their house on fire. In closing arguments yesterday, the prosecutor said that the boys confessed in November with such detail -- detail that only the killers would actually know, and he urged the jury not to be influenced by emotion, and by the youthful ages of the defendants.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Ladies and gentlemen on November 26th, the work of Derek and Alex was not pure and it was not right. You should judge them by their actions, not their ages, by their intent, not by their emotions.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

POTTER: Now later, the boys would recant those confession they gave in November, and say that they were manipulated into giving them by 40-year-old Rick Chavis, who the defense now blames for actually killing their taught. Chavis is a convicted pedophile. he spent time with the boys. He was a family friend. He is also accused by the state of having sex with the youngest of the brothers. That's the 13- year-old, Alex.

In their closing statements yesterday, the defense attorneys criticized the murder investigation for at best, being incomplete. They also told the jury there is no credible forensic evidence linking the boys to that very bloody crime scene.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Did the state prove beyond and to the exclusion of every reasonable doubt that my clients, the then 12-year- old Alex King, was a principle to murder? And did the state prove that he committed arson? .

(END VIDEO CLIP)

POTTER: Now in a most unusual legal mode, Chavis was indicted and tried separately on exactly the same charges facing the boys now. That trial was held a week ago. There was a verdict, but it has been sealed. We will not know the verdict from the Chavis case until we get the verdict in the boys' case. It was done that way, the sealing of the verdict, so that it won taint the results of this trial.

If there is a conviction in either case, whoever is convicted will face an automatic life in prison sentence, and that certainly applies to the two boys, despite their young ages, 13 and 14 years of age.

Anderson, back to you.

COOPER: Mark, just two questions for you this morning. Does the jury in the boys trial know that a trial has already taken place for Ricky Chavis?

POTTER: Yes, there was some reference to an earlier event. But it was certainly not stressed in this case. They did not want to taint this trial by talking about that one. I believe that in some of the testimony, there was some reference to it, but it was minimal.

COOPER: And final question. You said that Ricky Chavis' trial, the results will be unsealed, once the verdict is known in this trial. Do you know -- has it been announced how soon after this verdict is announced, the Ricky Chavis verdicts will be a announced?

POTTER: We do not know that. But it is not for lack of trying, Anderson. We talked to the judge's office, and they haven't said yet. Maybe they have not decided how to do this.

COOPER: All right, Mark Potter, thank you very much. We will check in with you again throughout the day.

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