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And with another Democrat governor, what more can we expect from the Evergreen state's Supreme Court? Now, in Washington, unless the prosecution can prove intent -- the accused can be charged only with manslaughter, not murder.
Friday, January 14, 2005
Child-killers walk free in wake of rulings against felony murder
Retrials will be most difficult in cases involving infants, toddlers
By TRACY JOHNSON
SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER REPORTER
A Puyallup man who shook his crying 6-week-old baby in a deadly effort to quiet her was released from prison last month, and so was a Bothell nurse found guilty of killing her 2-year-old daughter.
A man who got 60 years for beating to death his young nephew in Snohomish County will likely walk free today, after serving less than a third of his sentence.
Prosecutors say that among the hundreds of "felony murder" cases they face retrying in the wake of several recent state Supreme Court rulings, the people who killed very young children are proving to be among the most difficult to keep behind bars.
They say it's often impossible to prove an intent to kill -- which can be the difference between murder and less-severe manslaughter charges -- when someone impulsively beats or violently shakes a small child.
"Usually, it's a situation where they will fly off the handle and inflict grievous injuries," said Clark County Prosecutor Art Curtis. "Rarely in these kinds of situations does the defendant admit to intending to kill the child."
The reprieves have torn at the hearts of some young victims' relatives, who, in some cases, didn't think the punishment for murder was enough.
Defense attorneys, however, say unfairly harsh charges and sentences are being corrected, one case at a time. They contend manslaughter is the appropriate charge for someone who recklessly hurts another person without meaning to end a life.
One man who went free in King County last month, shaving almost 20 years from his original sentence by pleading guilty to manslaughter in his 6-week-old daughter's 1992 death, said he's always considered his crime horrifying and stupid -- but not murder.
"Out of a rash act, I recklessly caused her death," Keith Whitling, 37, said yesterday. "Every day that I wake up, I have to live with this the rest of my life."
A state Supreme Court ruling in November cleared the way for roughly 300 prisoners to get their second-degree "felony murder" convictions thrown out. It was the latest fallout from the court's earlier decision that the crime of assault, unlike other felonies, cannot be the basis for a murder charge in an unintended death.
In some cases, prosecutors hope to reinstate murder convictions.
But in some deaths of babies or very young children, prosecutors are finding that manslaughter might be the only option.
Today in Snohomish County Superior Court, David Crane is expected to plead guilty to manslaughter in the 1986 death of his 3-year-old nephew, Steven Collins, who was scalded, shaken and thrown against a wall.
Crane had been serving a 60-year prison sentence when the Supreme Court rulings paved the way for his conviction to be thrown out. Now, because he's already served the maximum sentence for manslaughter, he will likely go free.
Snohomish County prosecutors -- who also watched Noreen Erlandson go free last month in the death of her 2-year-old daughter, Kayla, after serving 12 years instead of 40 -- say their hands are tied.
"I think the evidence of what he did to his nephew fully deserves to be charged as murder," Deputy Prosecutor Seth Fine said, "but the state Supreme Court said that we can't."
Defense attorney Neil Fox said Crane has always maintained his innocence. "Eighteen years in prison is a very long time, by any calculation," Fox said. "I think he is hoping to get his life, what remains of it, in order."
In King County, prosecutors say the Supreme Court rulings could mean new trials for as many as 10 people who killed toddlers or infants. Among them is Whitling. Prosecutors ended up charging him with manslaughter and accepting his guilty plea. "I think everyone agreed that he didn't have any intent to kill," said Whitling's attorney, John Muenster.
Friday, January 14, 2005
Child-killers walk free in wake of rulings against felony murder
Retrials will be most difficult in cases involving infants, toddlers
By TRACY JOHNSON
SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER REPORTER
A Puyallup man who shook his crying 6-week-old baby in a deadly effort to quiet her was released from prison last month, and so was a Bothell nurse found guilty of killing her 2-year-old daughter.
A man who got 60 years for beating to death his young nephew in Snohomish County will likely walk free today, after serving less than a third of his sentence.
Prosecutors say that among the hundreds of "felony murder" cases they face retrying in the wake of several recent state Supreme Court rulings, the people who killed very young children are proving to be among the most difficult to keep behind bars.
They say it's often impossible to prove an intent to kill -- which can be the difference between murder and less-severe manslaughter charges -- when someone impulsively beats or violently shakes a small child.
"Usually, it's a situation where they will fly off the handle and inflict grievous injuries," said Clark County Prosecutor Art Curtis. "Rarely in these kinds of situations does the defendant admit to intending to kill the child."
The reprieves have torn at the hearts of some young victims' relatives, who, in some cases, didn't think the punishment for murder was enough.
Defense attorneys, however, say unfairly harsh charges and sentences are being corrected, one case at a time. They contend manslaughter is the appropriate charge for someone who recklessly hurts another person without meaning to end a life.
One man who went free in King County last month, shaving almost 20 years from his original sentence by pleading guilty to manslaughter in his 6-week-old daughter's 1992 death, said he's always considered his crime horrifying and stupid -- but not murder.
"Out of a rash act, I recklessly caused her death," Keith Whitling, 37, said yesterday. "Every day that I wake up, I have to live with this the rest of my life."
A state Supreme Court ruling in November cleared the way for roughly 300 prisoners to get their second-degree "felony murder" convictions thrown out. It was the latest fallout from the court's earlier decision that the crime of assault, unlike other felonies, cannot be the basis for a murder charge in an unintended death.
In some cases, prosecutors hope to reinstate murder convictions.
But in some deaths of babies or very young children, prosecutors are finding that manslaughter might be the only option.
Today in Snohomish County Superior Court, David Crane is expected to plead guilty to manslaughter in the 1986 death of his 3-year-old nephew, Steven Collins, who was scalded, shaken and thrown against a wall.
Crane had been serving a 60-year prison sentence when the Supreme Court rulings paved the way for his conviction to be thrown out. Now, because he's already served the maximum sentence for manslaughter, he will likely go free.
Snohomish County prosecutors -- who also watched Noreen Erlandson go free last month in the death of her 2-year-old daughter, Kayla, after serving 12 years instead of 40 -- say their hands are tied.
"I think the evidence of what he did to his nephew fully deserves to be charged as murder," Deputy Prosecutor Seth Fine said, "but the state Supreme Court said that we can't."
Defense attorney Neil Fox said Crane has always maintained his innocence. "Eighteen years in prison is a very long time, by any calculation," Fox said. "I think he is hoping to get his life, what remains of it, in order."
In King County, prosecutors say the Supreme Court rulings could mean new trials for as many as 10 people who killed toddlers or infants. Among them is Whitling. Prosecutors ended up charging him with manslaughter and accepting his guilty plea. "I think everyone agreed that he didn't have any intent to kill," said Whitling's attorney, John Muenster.
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I suspect that the outcome may be legally correct as unsatisfying as it may be for the victims' families.
