Post by SoulTrainOz on Jul 2, 2006 20:31:42 GMT -5
Charlotte inmate said always running
By Jacob Ogles
jogles@news-press.com
Originally posted on July 01, 2006
Stephen Smith has been trying to escape from something his whole life, according to his defense attorneys. Psychiatric institutions. Foster homes. An alcoholic father.
But after his last attempt to flee resulted in the murder of a female prison guard at Charlotte Correctional Institution, Smith finds himself trying to evade the state's ultimate punishment: the death penalty.
Arguments in the sentencing phase of Smith's murder trial, which began Thursday, continue today.
Smith was found guilty June 23 for the murder of Darla Lathrem, 38, the first female prison guard killed in Florida.
Though Smith did not swing the sledgehammer that ended Lathrem's life on June 11, 2003, he was convicted of masterminding the failed prison break in which she was killed. Florida law says a person who participates in a felony in which a murder is committed can be found guilty of the murder.
After testimony concludes in the sentencing phase, the jury is expected to deliberate on whether to recommend a life or death sentence for Smith.
During arguments Friday, defense attorney Paul Sullivan tried to point out ways in which shoddy security procedures were a culprit in Lathrem's murder. He also showed videotaped testimony of a social worker in Rhode Island who described Smith's difficult childhood.
Oryann Lima described the squalid public-housing conditions the family experienced. She said Smith and his four siblings were taken out of the home at different times for their own protection. Smith's father, Stephen Smith Sr., was described in state files as an "alcoholic primitive father."
As a child, Smith was sent to boarding schools and psychiatric institutions, and always escaped and fled back to Newport to be with his siblings, Lima said.
"He and (younger brother) Charlie were notorious for running, but it was always very easy to find them," she said.
As an adult, Smith went to prison for murder, for which he was serving a life sentence when Lathrem was murdered. And Smith had tried to escape from prison three times before the June 2003 attempt in which Lathrem died, attorney Joe Lombardo said during Smith's trial.
Experts called to testify by the defense on Friday said failures in the prison administration contributed to Lathrem's death.
Prison consultant James Aiken said the systems at Charlotte Correctional Institution in south Punta Gorda allowed inmates to decide who they were working with during work shifts.
"I've never seen anything like it," Aiken said.
Lathrem, of Fort Myers Shores, had only recently been assigned to guard prisoners in the evening when she was killed and had been transferred because of a problem guarding previous inmates in the kitchen.
Her fate was sealed when she was assigned to guard inmates Smith, Dwight Eaglin and Michael Jones during the evening shift, Aiken said. During the failed prison break that night, Eaglin killed Lathrem and inmate Charles Fuston with a sledgehammer.
Eaglin was found guilty of murder in February and sentenced to death in March. Jones is scheduled for trial in September.
Darla's father, David Lathrem, and sister Janet Best attended Friday's hearing but did not testify.
Source: News-press.com
www.news-press.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060701/NEWS0110/607010363/1075
By Jacob Ogles
jogles@news-press.com
Originally posted on July 01, 2006
Stephen Smith has been trying to escape from something his whole life, according to his defense attorneys. Psychiatric institutions. Foster homes. An alcoholic father.
But after his last attempt to flee resulted in the murder of a female prison guard at Charlotte Correctional Institution, Smith finds himself trying to evade the state's ultimate punishment: the death penalty.
Arguments in the sentencing phase of Smith's murder trial, which began Thursday, continue today.
Smith was found guilty June 23 for the murder of Darla Lathrem, 38, the first female prison guard killed in Florida.
Though Smith did not swing the sledgehammer that ended Lathrem's life on June 11, 2003, he was convicted of masterminding the failed prison break in which she was killed. Florida law says a person who participates in a felony in which a murder is committed can be found guilty of the murder.
After testimony concludes in the sentencing phase, the jury is expected to deliberate on whether to recommend a life or death sentence for Smith.
During arguments Friday, defense attorney Paul Sullivan tried to point out ways in which shoddy security procedures were a culprit in Lathrem's murder. He also showed videotaped testimony of a social worker in Rhode Island who described Smith's difficult childhood.
Oryann Lima described the squalid public-housing conditions the family experienced. She said Smith and his four siblings were taken out of the home at different times for their own protection. Smith's father, Stephen Smith Sr., was described in state files as an "alcoholic primitive father."
As a child, Smith was sent to boarding schools and psychiatric institutions, and always escaped and fled back to Newport to be with his siblings, Lima said.
"He and (younger brother) Charlie were notorious for running, but it was always very easy to find them," she said.
As an adult, Smith went to prison for murder, for which he was serving a life sentence when Lathrem was murdered. And Smith had tried to escape from prison three times before the June 2003 attempt in which Lathrem died, attorney Joe Lombardo said during Smith's trial.
Experts called to testify by the defense on Friday said failures in the prison administration contributed to Lathrem's death.
Prison consultant James Aiken said the systems at Charlotte Correctional Institution in south Punta Gorda allowed inmates to decide who they were working with during work shifts.
"I've never seen anything like it," Aiken said.
Lathrem, of Fort Myers Shores, had only recently been assigned to guard prisoners in the evening when she was killed and had been transferred because of a problem guarding previous inmates in the kitchen.
Her fate was sealed when she was assigned to guard inmates Smith, Dwight Eaglin and Michael Jones during the evening shift, Aiken said. During the failed prison break that night, Eaglin killed Lathrem and inmate Charles Fuston with a sledgehammer.
Eaglin was found guilty of murder in February and sentenced to death in March. Jones is scheduled for trial in September.
Darla's father, David Lathrem, and sister Janet Best attended Friday's hearing but did not testify.
Source: News-press.com
www.news-press.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060701/NEWS0110/607010363/1075