Posted on 06/06/2005 6:24:22 PM PDT by NotchJohnson
Kin rage over '82 slayer's release
BY CELESTE KATZ DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER
The family of a teenager beaten to death with a hammer is furious that her killer was set free moments after being convicted. A jury found Marc Ferrara of Lyndhurst, N.J., guilty of aggravated manslaughter this week in the 1982 death of 17-year-old Rosie Lorincz.
However, there was a five-year statute of limitations on the crime in 1982, so Ferrara won't do any time.
"It just doesn't seem fair," said Andrea Lorincz, the victim's sister. "He walks free, and we are left without a sister and a daughter, and no justice."
Had he been convicted of murder - for which there is no statute of limitations - Ferrara, 43, could have been sentenced to life in prison.
Because of a Supreme Court ruling that prevents a judge from telling a jury someone can go free even with a guilty verdict, jurors were unaware of the disparity between the two types of convictions.
Ferrara's lawyer, Dennis McAlevy, said there was no choice but to let his client walk.
"The law is what it is, and anybody that's blaming the judge for following the law is obviously [mistaken] at the least," he said. "In this country, we don't let the jury get involved in punishment."
The case had remained open until 2002, when Ferrara's sister told cops her brother made her help him get rid of Lorincz's body by dumping it into the Hudson River.
The body, which surfaced nine days after the slaying, was exhumed and identified via DNA testing.
Two words...New Jersey
Yup: This guys lawyer put his fee in his pocket and went away grinning.
The guy is at a party right now telling his friends how he beat the rap and LHAO.
quote "In this country, we don't let the jury get involved in punishment"
eh? I thought the SCOTUS just ruled recently a jury HAD to be involved in the sentencing of someone to death...
I think he should be charged with something else like violating her civil rights, kidnapping, ect..
so basicly this guy will get an easier sentence for murder than the girl who ran away from her wedding got.
"... a teenager beaten to death with a hammer ..." And the jury labeled it manslaughter? This needs a stupid jury alert; had to have been tried in a liberal blue zone. Perp should be getting the needle, not the exit door to the jailhouse.
Nice! ... I want one. Nice, quiet shooting days.
As an attorney myself, I will tell you that from the inside out the whole system is rotten.
Two words...shoot him
I was going to comment, but right now I am just disgusted.
SCOTUS strikes again.
I'm already cynical enough, so I sure hate to hear that.
Real questions.
Can it be fixed?
Is the will there to fix it.
I wish the answer was yes, but it seems to me that in most instances, court is the last place you want to be.
+
Statutes of limitations exist for a reason, it's too bad this individual skated, but it sounds to me like the state just didn't have the evidence to convict him of murder.
No. This is a state that has an out of control SC, elects Lautenbergs and Corzines and produces Christine Todd Whitmans.
It doesn't make sense at all. If someone hits a person with a hammer, and kills him, and it's not self defense, then it must be murder. He's either innocent or guilty of murder.
There has to be something wrong with the system to allow this.
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