Introduction
Florida has been facing a lot of murder cases over the last one decade from the minors. This paper will compare two murder cases. One committed by Lionel Tate and the other one by the king brothers; Alex and Derek.
Main body
Lionel Tate age 12 years allegedly killed his playmate, friend and a cousin Tiffny Eunick who was only 6 years of age in July 1999. The murder happened when Tate was trying to imitate some wrestling moves he had seen in the television. Tate was indicated by a Broward County grand jury for the first degree murder (Thomas & Gardner 12). This conviction was done in March 2001. This conviction became placed Tate to become one of the youngest Americans ever sentenced to life imprisonment. This mandatory sentence prompted to a national outcry the public arguing that the sentence was very harsh given the defendant’s age.
However, Tate pleaded guilty of second degree murder in exchange for juvenile facility for a period of three years with a credit for time served and further followed by one year of house arrest in addition to ten years’ probation. This was the deal that had earlier been offered by Attorney Satz of Broward State. Tate’s lawyer Rosenbaum contended that Tate’s competency to the murder was in doubt since he had rejected the Attorney’s plea and again he seemed uninterested in the trial proceedings and that he spent much of his time drawing pictures in addition to his IQ level of 90. However, the argument concerning the Tate’s behavior during trial could not raise concerns about his comprehension.
In the second case concerns the King Brothers; Alex and Derek who were aged 13 and 14 consecutively. The two were sentenced for killing their forty year old father. Terry king was a printer and was asleep at his home in Florida at the time of his death. He was bludgeoned to death with a baseball bat by his two sons and then set the house ablaze in attempt to destroy the evidence. The two confessed to the brutal crime and pleaded guilty to reduced charges and received up to eight years imprisonment when a judge threw out their convictions thus being lenient to them. They both admitted to the third degree murder and arson.
Following the twelve and a half years minimum specified under the state guidelines, Derek was sentenced 8 years in prison while Alex 7 years. Prior to the conviction the two boys had been sentenced to twenty years to life and had been tried as adults in the case. The two also agreed that they knew what they were saying during the proceedings as well as what they did to their father (Thomas & Gardner 34).
Conclusion
In comparison between the Tate’s case and that of the King Brothers, it can be said that despite the fact that both cases carried the same magnitude of crime but both cases had different sentences. For example Tate was convicted a life imprisonment while the King Brothers were convicted of third degree murder. In both cases comprehension of what the convicts did was not considered. Following the trial and sentencing of the two cases of the Lionel Tate and that of the king brothers Alex and Derek, there was public outcry to have some reforms with explicit explanations as to when a cases of under aged children should be judged as adult cases.
Reference
Thomas J. Gardner & Terry M. Anderson; Introduction to criminal justice. Washington DC, Thomson Wadsworth law enforcement publishers. (2006) Pp 1-113.