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Title: Mardi Gras murder conviction overturned
Source:
The Seattle Times
URL Source: http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/ht ... news/2002256975_thomas29m.html
Published: Apr 29, 2005
Author: Maureen O'Hagan
Post Date: 2005-04-30 15:09:40 by 1776
Keywords: conviction, overturned, murder
Views: 430
Comments: 20
Jerell Thomas was convicted after the killing. The Washington state Court of Appeals yesterday overturned the conviction of Jerell Thomas, who killed 20-year-old Kristopher Kime in the 2001 Mardi Gras riot. The decision was not unexpected, but it does put pressure on the King County prosecutor to win a new conviction in a case that shocked the city. Thomas was found guilty in 2001 of second-degree felony murder in the death of Kime, who was punched three times in the head, according to testimony at his trial. Kime was blindsided because he was helping a woman who had also been victimized in the melee. Thomas, then 17, also was convicted of assault in connection with attacks on two other people that day. Thomas appealed his conviction on several grounds, one of which resulted in a clear victory for him. Thomas contended that his conviction of second-degree felony murder was invalid because the Washington state Supreme Court in 2002 threw out the law that covered that crime. In that case, known as the Andress decision, the Supreme Court ruled that an assault that leads to an unintended death cannot be called a murder. Instead, it's manslaughter, a crime that carries a lesser sentence. The court's reasoning went like this: In most murder cases, a prosecutor has to prove the defendant intended to kill. The exception is the felony-murder statute — under which Thomas was convicted — that covers deaths that occur while the defendant was committing another felony, such as rape or arson. In the Andress case, the court ruled that prosecutors could no longer use assault as the basis for a felony-murder conviction. That's because every homicide, by definition, includes an assault, the justices wrote. So if assault could be the basis for a murder conviction, every criminal case that results in death could be called a murder — something the Legislature did not intend. Prosecutors decried the ruling, which overturned years of precedent and cast doubt on hundreds of murder convictions. They have been examining each case as it's overturned, and depending on the facts, they have the option to refile charges (for example, manslaughter) enter into a plea bargain with the defendant or simply drop the case. Attempts to reach King County prosecutors last night to discuss how they might proceed in the Thomas case were unsuccessful. Yesterday's decision did not come as a surprise to Kime's mother, who said prosecutors spoke with the family about the impact of the Andress decision some time ago. "They asked if they wanted to do plea bargain, how would we feel about it," Kim Kime-Parks explained. "We said absolutely not. He needs to serve time. And he will, we're sure of that. If we have to go through another trial, we will do that." Because Thomas' assault convictions still stand, Kime-Parks says he will remain incarcerated while he awaits new charges.
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Begin Trace Mode for Comment # 3.
#1. To: Flintlock, wbales, Don, tom007, Bayonne, Jhoffa_, aristeides, Mr Nuke Buzzcut, noone222, RickyJ, christine, zipporah, Diana, honway, Red Jones, Brian S, robin, Itisa1mosttoolate, Jethro Tull, lodwick, CWRWinger (#0)
Kris had gone to the rescue of a White girl who was being beaten and stripped by the mob of blacks.
Sad to watch our descent into madness.
#8. To: lodwick (#3)
It is.
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Kris was the only White male who did anything.
He was beaten on the head with a skateboard.
The blacks also fired .357 magnum rounds in the melee and the Seattle cops stood back not wanting to interfere with the blacks fun.
#3. To: 1776 (#1)
Replies to Comment # 3. Sad to watch our descent into madness.
End Trace Mode for Comment # 3.