Posted on 06/02/2005 6:26:39 PM PDT by BobL
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. - A judge Thursday set a hearing for next month on whether to revoke probation for a teen given a second chance after beating and stomping a little girl to death - and now charged with robbing a pizza delivery man.
The judge ordered that Lionel Tate continue to be held without bond pending the Aug. 8 hearing. Revocation of probation could mean a life sentence for the 18-year-old, who was freed following a plea agreement in the 1999 killing of Tiffany Eunick, 6.
Tate touched off a debate over Florida's practice of prosecuting juveniles as adults when he became the youngest person in modern U.S. history to be sentenced to life in prison for Tiffany's slaying. Then 12, Tate initially blamed the girl's death on wrestling moves he said he copied from television.
Tate's life sentence was overturned on appeal and he was released on a plea bargain after serving three years; the deal placed him under house arrest for a year, followed by probation for 10 years.
At Thursday's hearing, Broward County sheriff's office detectives said a print matching Tate's had been found on one of four pizza boxes delivered to an apartment where the holdup occurred last month.
Detectives also said they found a .40-caliber bullet and a handgun ankle holster under Tate's mattress in a nearby town house he shares with his mother, a Florida state trooper. A 12-year-old boy and the pizza delivery man also identified Tate, the they said.
Tate, shackled at the wrists and ankles and wearing a tan jail jumpsuit, did not speak at the hearing. His mother, Kathleen Grossett-Tate, declined to comment.
Tate's lawyer, Jim Lewis, claimed there were inconsistencies in the detectives' investigation, particularly whether Tate was singled out unfairly.
"He's not guilty of anything but eating pizza. He trusts that the truth will come out," Lewis said.
Other questions, Lewis said, include how the delivery man could have identified Tate so quickly when the robber was wearing a black mask over the lower part of his face. The robber also was wearing different clothes than Tate had on when he was arrested.
Investigators say they are awaiting DNA lab tests on a wool cap believed to have been the mask and on a pair of maroon shorts. The robbery weapon has not been found.
...to unleash these beasts only on liberal leaders. But no, liberal leaders can afford the gated communities, body guards, and even guns (ala Carl Rowan) to protect themselves. We, the little people, are left to deal with animals like Lional Tate - whom the liberals are obsessed with unleashing throughout the country.
You have to wonder where this murderer would be if his mother wasn't a LEO. That question opens a whole lot of things to consider. Not the least of which is that he may have had to be responsible for his actions at a very early age.
LEO??
LEO = law enforcement officer
Thanks.
Hard to explain away a fingerprint.
I really believe that most people are born with a streak of evil built in. Once someone kills for no good reason it seems to get easier each time.
All of this starts with people willing to accept dishonesty from their kids. No excuses allowed, someone screwed up early on, but it wasn't me, wasn't You, and I am about tired of Us paying the price. Mr. Tate and his Momma should be grateful that he never messed with Me and Mine, or more than a few of You, and Yours.
A Florida State Trooper.
Affirmative action at its best at work.
Yessum, they shoulda nevah named dat boy 'Lionel' cuz he sho 'nuff gonna end up bein' railroaded.
They might give him time, but no matter how much time they give him, he'll be out in a couple years, to kill again.
"He's not guilty of anything but eating pizza. He trusts that the truth will come out," Lewis said.
Yes it will, and then he is TOAST. The army of supporters he had the last time are gonna be elsewhere for this one.
I dont believe it has anything to do with the mother being a law enforcement officer, its about race and a gullible system.
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