Posted on 04/02/2013 10:40:50 PM PDT by grundle
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Condemned killer Steven Smith's argument for mercy isn't an easy one. Smith acknowledges he intended to sexually assault his girlfriend's 6-month-old daughter but says he never intended to kill the baby.
The girl, Autumn Carter, of Mansfield, died because Smith was too drunk to realize his sexual assault was killing the child, Smith's attorneys were telling the Ohio Parole Board on Tuesday. And Ohio law is clear, they say: a death sentence requires an intent to kill the victim.
"The evidence suggests that Autumn's death was a horrible accident," his attorneys, Joseph Wilhelm and Tyson Fleming, said in a written argument prepared for the board.
They continued: "Despite the shocking nature of this crime, Steve's death sentence should be commuted because genuine doubts exist whether he even committed a capital offense."
Smith, 46, was never charged with sexual assault, meaning the jury's only choice was to convict or acquit him of aggravated murder, his attorneys say.
The Richland County prosecutor said Smith continues to hide behind alcohol as an excuse, and calls Smith's actions "the purposeful murder of a helpless baby girl."
Prosecutor James Mayer told the board in his own written statement that the girl's injuries are consistent with a homicide that contradicts Smith's claim he didn't intend to kill the girl.
The attack happened early in the morning of Sept. 29, 1998, in the Mansfield apartment of the girl's mother, Kaysha Frye, a woman Smith had been dating about six months.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
Screw him. I hope he gets the death penalty, and the sooner the better.
Greatest mercy this animal could receive is to be put to death and let G_d determine his final fate.
I’m with you. A quick bullet and let G-d sort it out later. This is not a man, this is a subhuman.
And some people don’t believe in the death penalty.
i would show him mercy and immediately dispatch him to God.
Move his case to the highest court.
Amen!
this statement is disgusting...
Once you admit that you “intended to sexually assault” a child, you’ve pretty much given up any chance at life.
He should be given two options:
1. Quick and painless, IE bullet to the brain
2. Slow and Painful, IE torture, etc
Here’s hoping that he gets #2
This case begs for a short rope and a long drop.
Why is he still breathing?
It shouldn’t take 25 years to resolve this case.
That is not normal.
These people need the death penalty.
This idiot thinks he should get mercy because he didn't mean to kill the baby, ack.
bump
As far as I’m concerned, raping a child IS attempted murder.
If the child dies, then it’s murder.
Yup, best thing for everyone would be his quick death.
The animal needs to be on his knees...humbling himself before God.
Better to never have been born than to be this worthless piece of crap. :-(
Kill him slowly. No mercy for the wicked.
Why is he still alive?
That's much too merciful! i say he should be thrown live into shark infested waters.
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