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How Young is Too Young For Life Sentence?

Aired September 02, 2003 - 14:04   ET

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

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


KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Two years have come and gone since a 14-year-old Florida boy was sentenced to life in prison with no possibly of parole. Lionel Tate killed a 6-year-old friend, supposedly while reenacting wrestling moves that he had seen on television. Today, his case reached the Florida Court of Appeals.
And CNN's John Zarrella was there.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOHN ZARRELLA, CNN MIAMI BUREAU CHIEF: Two years ago, Lionel Tate was convicted of first-degree murder in the beating death of a 6- year-old playmate, Tiffany Eunick. He was then sentenced to life in prison without parole.

His attorneys were in the 4th District Court of Appeals today trying to get that conviction thrown out and the case sent back to the trial court, his attorneys arguing that it was cruel and unusual punishment that a boy who was 12 at the time be sentenced to life without parole. The attorneys also argued that Tate should have been granted an evaluation, a psychologically competency evaluation.

And they said that the judge should have ordered that evaluation. Well, the court here today asked, why should it have been the judge's responsibility?

JUDGE MARTHA WARNER, FLORIDA COURT OF APPEALS: Show me what facts which make this case the unique situation where they should have called.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: First of all, Lionel's young age. He was 12 years old at the time, Lionel's mental age. Depending on which doctor you believe, he was either 1.9 to four years below that. His immaturity, his lack of development, all this was borne out by the record through pretrial proceeding.

ZARRELLA: The state argued that Tiffany Eunick's death was no accident, that she had sustained more than 30 injuries. But what the court wanted to know more about was, at what point does aggravated child abuse felony murder kick in? At what point is a child too young to face those kinds of charges?

JUDGE FRED HAZOURI, FLORIDA COURT OF APPEALS: At what point do we as a society say that's -- that is beyond the pale? What age? And you are having difficulty -- I'm not having difficulty with the nature of the (OFF-MIKE) I'm having difficulty with at what point would you say? What point would the state say that that's just too young? ZARRELLA: What it comes down to is that the state statute does not have an age guideline in it. As far as when these judges will rule, there is no timeframe.

John Zarrella, CNN, West Palm Beach, Florida.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com






Aired September 2, 2003 - 14:04   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Two years have come and gone since a 14-year-old Florida boy was sentenced to life in prison with no possibly of parole. Lionel Tate killed a 6-year-old friend, supposedly while reenacting wrestling moves that he had seen on television. Today, his case reached the Florida Court of Appeals.
And CNN's John Zarrella was there.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOHN ZARRELLA, CNN MIAMI BUREAU CHIEF: Two years ago, Lionel Tate was convicted of first-degree murder in the beating death of a 6- year-old playmate, Tiffany Eunick. He was then sentenced to life in prison without parole.

His attorneys were in the 4th District Court of Appeals today trying to get that conviction thrown out and the case sent back to the trial court, his attorneys arguing that it was cruel and unusual punishment that a boy who was 12 at the time be sentenced to life without parole. The attorneys also argued that Tate should have been granted an evaluation, a psychologically competency evaluation.

And they said that the judge should have ordered that evaluation. Well, the court here today asked, why should it have been the judge's responsibility?

JUDGE MARTHA WARNER, FLORIDA COURT OF APPEALS: Show me what facts which make this case the unique situation where they should have called.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: First of all, Lionel's young age. He was 12 years old at the time, Lionel's mental age. Depending on which doctor you believe, he was either 1.9 to four years below that. His immaturity, his lack of development, all this was borne out by the record through pretrial proceeding.

ZARRELLA: The state argued that Tiffany Eunick's death was no accident, that she had sustained more than 30 injuries. But what the court wanted to know more about was, at what point does aggravated child abuse felony murder kick in? At what point is a child too young to face those kinds of charges?

JUDGE FRED HAZOURI, FLORIDA COURT OF APPEALS: At what point do we as a society say that's -- that is beyond the pale? What age? And you are having difficulty -- I'm not having difficulty with the nature of the (OFF-MIKE) I'm having difficulty with at what point would you say? What point would the state say that that's just too young? ZARRELLA: What it comes down to is that the state statute does not have an age guideline in it. As far as when these judges will rule, there is no timeframe.

John Zarrella, CNN, West Palm Beach, Florida.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com