April Trial Date Changed For Taylor Suspects to August 25
The four men charged with killing Washington Redskins safety Sean Taylor appeared in shackles and red jumpsuits during their arraignment in Miami-Dade state court Friday and received an April 7 trial date.On November 26, 2007, at 1:45 a.m. EST, Sean Michael Maurice Taylor was shot in the upper leg by an armed intruder at his Palmetto Bay, Florida home, where he had been recuperating from a football injury. He was critically wounded in his femoral artery. His long-time girlfriend Jackie Garcia, niece of actor Andy Garcia, hid under the bedding with their 18-month-old daughter, also named Jackie. Garcia then called 911 from her cell phone.
Taylor was airlifted to the Ryder Trauma Center at Jackson Memorial Hospital in Miami, where he underwent surgery. He emerged from surgery about 12:30 p.m. He had lost a significant amount of blood and remained unconscious and in a coma. His doctors speculated that he may have suffered brain damage due to the blood loss, and an unnamed Redskins source reported that Taylor's heart stopped twice during the emergency surgery.
On November 27 at 3:30 a.m., Taylor died at the hospital. The news was released to the media by Richard Sharpstein, a family friend, who learned the news from Taylor's father around 5:30 a.m, and by Taylor's agent, fellow University of Miami alumnus Drew Rosenhaus.
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08/16/08
Sean Taylor murder trial to be delayed
Judge Dennis Murphy set a new trial date of March 3, 2009.
Taylor was shot in the groin at his Palmetto Bay home during a botched burglary in November. He died the next day.
Four Ft. Myers area men were arrested shortly after the killing. The fifth was picked up in May.
The fifth and final man charged with the killing, waived his right to have a trial within 190 days of his arrest, meaning the case will be delayed for months.
Three other defendants also have waived their speedy trial rights. One man, Venjah K. Hunte, pleaded guilty to murder charges and will be sentenced to 29 years in prison.
The Judge considered defense requests to seal portions of the records in the case on Friday, and granted a request to seal a police report because he said the defense attorneys would probably try to have the report suppressed.
Resources:
http://www.local10.com/news/17205218/detail.html
http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080816/SPORTS11/808160356/1059/SPORTS11
http://www.realgmfootball.com/src_wiretap_archives/8752/20080815/trial_of_4_charged_in_taylor_murder_moved_to_09/
www.miamiherald.com
05/16/08
Guilty Plea Sean Taylor Murder
5th Person Charged In Case
Venjah Hunte pleaded guilty to second degree murder and burglary charges for his role in the killing of Redskins star safety Sean Taylor and was handed a 29-year sentence, the first in what Taylor's family hopes will be a series on long sentences. Hunte was one of five men charged with first-degree murder in the case and he was accused driver of the car used to get to and from Taylor's home; Hunte agreed to testify against the others as part of the deal, according to a source with knowledge of the situation.
A fifth person has been charged in connection to the murder of Washington Redskins' star Sean Taylor.
16-year old Timothy Brown, a relative of suspect Charles Wardlow, has been charged with first degree murder. He allegedly travelled with Wardlow, Jason Scott Mitchell, Eric Rivera Jr., Venjah Hunte the night they drove from Ft. Myers to Palmetto Bay in November 2007 to rob Taylor's home. It was during that botched robbery, that one of the suspects, Rivera, shot Taylor in the groin. Taylor died a day later at Jackson Memorial Hospital. His girlfriend and baby daughter, who were in the house at the time of the shooting, were not hurt.
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http://cbs4.com/local/sean.taylor.suspect.2.723764.html
http://blog.washingtonpost.com/redskinsinsider/2008/05/a_guilty_plea_in_the_sean_tayl.html?hpid=news-col-blog
http://www.profootballtalk.com/2008/05/14/fifth-person-charged-in-sean-taylor-murder/
http://www.naplesnews.com/news/2008/may/15/police-negating-alibis-sean-taylor-murder-suspects/
http://www.reuters.com/article/sportsNews/idUSN1533388120080515
05/14/08
No Death Penalty for defendants
The four defendants in the Sean Taylor case, will not receive the death penalty as a possible outcome of their fate.
The procecutors, in Miami said they weren't going to seek the death penalty, because the accused shooter was a minor at the time of the shoting.
The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that people cannot be executed for crimes committed when they are under 18 and it's a well-established legal principle that others involved in the same case as a minor cannot face the ultimate penalty if they are less directly responsible.
Miami-Dade County prosecutor Reid Rubin said in a letter to lawyers for the suspects that the four will face a maximum sentence of life in prison if convicted.
The trial is scheduled for August 25, 2008.
Resources...
http://www.thestar.com/Sports/Football/article/424761
http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5ihx9sA8qipyNfLEcBvTrNkVTMiPgD90K79NG0 No longer available
http://www.bostonherald.com/sports/football/other_nfl/view.bg?articleid=1093702&srvc=sports&position=recent No longer available
04/26/08
Bail denied for suspect
Circuit Judge Dennis Murphy noted that 20-year-old Jason Scott Mitchell and three other suspects allegedly hatched their plot in the Fort Myers area and drove across the state intending to burglarize Taylor's Miami-area home.
"Youth and guns have been such a prevalent issue of concern in our community. Now we're getting it imported from other parts of the state," Murphy said at a hearing. "I'm not sure any form of release would adequately protect the public."
Murphy's denial of bail for Mitchell came after the suspect's mother, Louise Robertson, and several other relatives came to court wearing T-shirts bearing his picture. Robertson's black shirt said "Mama's Baby" on the front and "Free My Son" on the back
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http://www.examiner.com/a-1360061~Judge_denies_bail_for_suspect_in_Sean_Taylor_killing.html?cid=rss-Sports No longer available
http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/24313047/
03/31/08
Finish report or go to jail
Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Dennis Murphy warned prosecutors Friday that he would jail a county homicide detective if he didn't finish his report on the death of NFL star Sean Taylor.
Murphy gave Detective Juan Segovia until April 28 to finish his report so prosecutors can turn it over to the attorneys representing the four men accused of killing Taylor.
''If Mr. Segovia hasn't completed his report by then, I'll find a little space for him over at the Dade County Jail,'' Murphy said. ``I hope someone can pass that on to him.''
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03/29/08
Trial Postponed
WASHINGTON (Ticker) -- The murder trial of three of the four men accused of killing Washington Redskins star Sean Taylor reportedly has been postponed until the summer.
The trial was delayed during a hearing Friday in Miami-Dade County state court, according to a report from the Washington Post.
The trial date was moved from April 7 to August 25.
The report stated that the attorneys for Charles Wardlow, Jason Scott Mitchell and Venjah Hunte argued that they were not prepared to go to trial as scheduled because of delays in receiving information about the case from the prosecution.
The trial of the fourth defendant, Eric Rivera, also is expected to be rescheduled when he appears in court next Wednesday.
The four men were charged with first-degree felony murder and armed robbery in connection with the shooting of Taylor, who died on November 27, 2007, after surprising intruders in his Miami home the day before.
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http://www.sbrforum.com/Headlines/NFL/60243.aspx
03/28/08
Buglary Tools May Be Left
The four suspects in NFL star Sean Taylor’s slaying may have left burglary tools at a Lehigh Acres teenager’s home on their way back up from Miami that day, newly released documents in the case say.
In a transcribed police interview, Areyle Boston says the suspects — Jason Mitchell, Venjah Hunte, Charles Wardlow and Eric Rivera — along with a fifth, as-yet unnamed person who reportedly rode with them down to Taylor’s Miami-area home all dropped by early in the morning of Nov. 26. Boston told a Miami-Dade police detective when they left, a set of tools was sitting by the side of the house.
The four Southwest Florida men accused of killing NFL will be in a Miami courtroom tomorrow morning for a status conference.
Resources...
http://abc7docket.abc-7blogs.com/2008/03/27/sean-taylor-suspects-in-court-tomorrow-morning/
http://www.naplesnews.com/news/2008/mar/24/sean-taylor-murder-suspects-may-have-left-burglary/
03/21/08
Scapegoat allegation
A Fort Myers teen said she was wrongly dragged into football player Sean Taylor’s murder case when the mother of a former friend told prosecutors she let the suspects use a rented vehicle.
Alexia Anderson, 19, of Fort Myers said Thursday she was made the scapegoat and has no connection to the crime.
“I got nothing to do with it,” she said. “It’s all on her, but she used my name.”
Anderson came to The News-Press on Thursday after seeing a story last week about documents Miami prosecutors released in Taylor’s case. Police believe Eric Rivera, 17, Venjah Hunte, 20, and Charles Wardlow, 18, all of Fort Myers, and Jason Mitchell, 19, of Lehigh Acres, drove to Miami on Nov. 26 to burglarize Taylor’s house. A grand jury indictment revealed Rivera shot the Washington Redskins safety in the leg. Taylor died the next day of blood loss.
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http://www.news-press.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080321/NEWS01/80320083/1075
03/14/08
Always about money
Sean Taylor's generosity might have led to a botched robbery at his Palmetto Bay home last year, according to interrogations released Wednesday.
Jason Mitchell, one of four men charged in the Washington Redskins star's murder, told Miami-Dade detectives that Taylor gave wads of cash -- $10,000 each -- to Taylor's brother and sister.
The siblings, Sasha and Jamal Johnson, flashed the cash in front of their friends during Sasha's September birthday party.
'I was just like, `That's a lot of money,' '' Mitchell said to police on Nov. 30, four days after the killing.
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