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CNN Live Today

Trial of Boys Accused of Beating Father to Death in Jury

Aired September 06, 2002 - 13:14   ET

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


KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: The murder trial of two teenage brothers is now with the jury in Pensacola, Florida. The boys are accused of beating their father to death with a baseball bat. This is the second murder trial in this case.
CNN's Mark Potter is in Pensacola -- Mark.

MARK POTTER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Kyra.

The jury got the case about three hours ago. Since then, we have seen them one time. They came back into the court briefly with a question: They wanted an autopsy photo, but they were told it had not been entered into evidence, so they were not allowed to see it.

The two boys, Alex and Derek King, are charged with arson or first degree, or premeditated, murder for allegedly beating their father to death with a baseball bat. The jurors were told that if they did not agree with a first degree murder verdict, they could also find them guilty of lesser charges, being second degree murder or manslaughter -- or course, they could also find them not guilty.

In closing arguments yesterday, the prosecutor told the jury that the boys in their confessions last November provided details that only the killers would know.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He's very, very specific. He is talking about what Derek did. He said he hits him with a bat the first time, sounds like wood cracking or hitting concrete or something. Question: What are you doing when Derek's hitting him with a bat? I was just standing there watching him -- and of course, absorbing these details.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

POTTER: The boys would later recant those confessions, said that they were manipulated. They now blame 40-year-old Ricky Chavis for killing their father. He is a convicted pedophile, a family friend; he is accused by the state of having sex with Alex, the 13-year-old younger brother.

In their closing argument, the defense attorneys told the jury that there is no credible forensic evidence linking the boys to the murder scene.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There were nine different stories that Ricky Chavis told concerning this, that the latest and greatest version that he is telling has the boys within minutes of doing this crawl across the backseat of Chavis's car and crawl into the trunk. And yet, there was not one strand of DNA found in that truck. There was not one piece of evidence, physical evidence, that found in there.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

POTTER: In a very unusual legal move, Ricky Chavis was indicted and tried separately on exactly the same murder charges the two boys are facing now. There was a verdict in his trial last week, but it has been sealed. We'll learn his verdict after we get a verdict in the case of the two boys.

Anyone convicted of first degree murder will face an automatic life prison term.

PHILLIPS: All right, Mark Potter, thanks so much.

For more on the trial in Pensacola and perhaps more, we're joined by CNN's legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin. He's in New York.

Jeffrey, tell me about this important legal ruling that happens before summations.

JEFFREY TOOBIN, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: What happened yesterday was interesting, reflecting how odd that situation here is. What the defense wanted to do in the trial of the two boys was introduce the prosecution's summation in the trial of the previous week, of Chavis. They wanted to tell the jury, Listen to the prosecutor, what he was saying last week: He saying someone else did it. But the judge declined to let them do that. That said the summation was not evidence, and so it wasn't allowed in front of the jury. It would have been very helpful to the defense to have had that, but they didn't get it.

PHILLIPS: How long do you think the jury will be out?

TOOBIN: Well, you never know for sure in a situation like this. The jury in the Chavis case last week was out for seven hours. Could be a signal of how long this jury will be out.

PHILLIPS: Once we get the verdict, this is probably not the end of the case, is it?

TOOBIN: This case is certain to be appealed, especially if both sets of defendants are convicted, because that would mean to a certainty that an innocent person had been convicted, because the government theories are really completely contradictory. What might be government's best option, what might be the best news for the government is to win one case and lose the other so it wouldn't be stuck defending inconsistent verdicts.

PHILLIPS: In a interview we did earlier on, Jeffrey, talked about a teacher who is coming into the jail and schooling the boys right now. How long does that last? Does the verdict and what happens -- say they get life in prison -- will that continue until they are past the age of 18?

TOOBIN: Well, certainly not past the age of 18. Most prisons provide only minimal educational service past high school age. What's so extraordinary about this case is that you see those boys; they look young for 13 and 14. If the two of them are convicted for first degree murder, what it means to a certainty is that they will die in prison of old age 70 years from now, 80 years from now, whatever it takes. And that's why the stakes in this case are just so enormous.

PHILLIPS: Jeffrey Toobin. Thanks.

TOOBIN: Take care.

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