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Lionel Tate Case: Once Sentenced to Life, Teen to Plead & Be Freed

Aired January 26, 2004 - 13:09   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.


CAROL LIN, CNN ANCHOR: Well the Florida boy who was 12 years old when he killed a young playmate in 1999 and whom a judge sentenced to life in prison without parole could be released this hour by the same judge.
CNN's John Zarrella is watching all of this at an important bond hearing for Lionel Tate in West Palm Beach.

We remember this case well -- John.

JOHN ZARRELLA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Carol, that's right. He has gone before Judge Joel Lazarus again. It is the same judge who basically read him his sentence three years ago, life without parole. And in what has been a remarkably fast proceeding, literally about five to seven minutes in length, Lionel Tate is -- has been given bond. He is going to be released on his own recognizance and he will wear an electronic monitoring device.

His attorney there, you can see Richard Rosenbaum on the right, talking with Lionel does not look like the same boy he was, certainly not a boy any longer, as when he was convicted and sentenced three years ago. Lionel Tate will be turning 17 years old on Friday.

On Thursday he will have to be back here in court to plead guilty to second-degree murder. That will be the part of the plea deal. And it will, in essence, be the first time -- there he is being hugged by his mother. It will be -- and tears of happiness, of course. But it will be the first time that he has actually taken responsibility and admitted guilt in this -- in the crime.

Of course, as many of our viewers recall, it was back in 1999, Lionel Tate playing with his playmate, Tiffany Eunick, and she received some 35 injuries, some very serious injuries, and died. Of course Lionel and his mother maintaining all along that it was an accident. And the jury did not find it that way, sentencing him to life without parole.

He was believed, at the time, to be the youngest person ever convicted and sentenced to life without parole. That began three years trying to get him free. An appeals court threw out the conviction about a month ago, basically saying that he was not given a competency hearing and thus the trial verdict was thrown out, did not stand.

The Broward County state's attorney's office deciding not to retry him but to go ahead with this plea agreement. And again, this plea agreement that they are agreeing to now and which he will come back to court on Thursday for is, in essence, the same one that he was offered three years ago at his original trial, which amounts to one year house arrest, now the three years time served, and then ten years of probation. At the time, -- at the time, his parents -- his mother turned it down, saying she did not believe that he would ever be convicted by a jury, but of course that did happen.

And then again, there you again have pictures of Lionel with his mother and the attorneys representing him. Tiffany Eunick's mother left the courtroom just a few moments ago, saw her leaving the courtroom. So a very swift proceeding today, Carol, ending with Lionel Tate being granted bond, released on his own recognizance from the jail here in Broward County this afternoon -- Carol.

LIN: All right. Thank you very much. John Zarrella reporting live there. We will be keeping an eye on this case and any reaction it to throughout the day.

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




Be Freed>


Aired January 26, 2004 - 13:09   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL LIN, CNN ANCHOR: Well the Florida boy who was 12 years old when he killed a young playmate in 1999 and whom a judge sentenced to life in prison without parole could be released this hour by the same judge.
CNN's John Zarrella is watching all of this at an important bond hearing for Lionel Tate in West Palm Beach.

We remember this case well -- John.

JOHN ZARRELLA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Carol, that's right. He has gone before Judge Joel Lazarus again. It is the same judge who basically read him his sentence three years ago, life without parole. And in what has been a remarkably fast proceeding, literally about five to seven minutes in length, Lionel Tate is -- has been given bond. He is going to be released on his own recognizance and he will wear an electronic monitoring device.

His attorney there, you can see Richard Rosenbaum on the right, talking with Lionel does not look like the same boy he was, certainly not a boy any longer, as when he was convicted and sentenced three years ago. Lionel Tate will be turning 17 years old on Friday.

On Thursday he will have to be back here in court to plead guilty to second-degree murder. That will be the part of the plea deal. And it will, in essence, be the first time -- there he is being hugged by his mother. It will be -- and tears of happiness, of course. But it will be the first time that he has actually taken responsibility and admitted guilt in this -- in the crime.

Of course, as many of our viewers recall, it was back in 1999, Lionel Tate playing with his playmate, Tiffany Eunick, and she received some 35 injuries, some very serious injuries, and died. Of course Lionel and his mother maintaining all along that it was an accident. And the jury did not find it that way, sentencing him to life without parole.

He was believed, at the time, to be the youngest person ever convicted and sentenced to life without parole. That began three years trying to get him free. An appeals court threw out the conviction about a month ago, basically saying that he was not given a competency hearing and thus the trial verdict was thrown out, did not stand.

The Broward County state's attorney's office deciding not to retry him but to go ahead with this plea agreement. And again, this plea agreement that they are agreeing to now and which he will come back to court on Thursday for is, in essence, the same one that he was offered three years ago at his original trial, which amounts to one year house arrest, now the three years time served, and then ten years of probation. At the time, -- at the time, his parents -- his mother turned it down, saying she did not believe that he would ever be convicted by a jury, but of course that did happen.

And then again, there you again have pictures of Lionel with his mother and the attorneys representing him. Tiffany Eunick's mother left the courtroom just a few moments ago, saw her leaving the courtroom. So a very swift proceeding today, Carol, ending with Lionel Tate being granted bond, released on his own recognizance from the jail here in Broward County this afternoon -- Carol.

LIN: All right. Thank you very much. John Zarrella reporting live there. We will be keeping an eye on this case and any reaction it to throughout the day.

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




Be Freed>