Law 12 Inquiry Unit
Prison time for stealing stop sign
TAMPA, Fla. (Leader Post, 1997)
As family members on both sides of the courtroom wept, three friends, were sentenced to 15 years in prison Friday for pulling up a stop sign for kicks and causing the deaths of three teens who drove into the path of a truck.
"I understand your parents love you so much as these parents loved their children. There are no winners in this case" Judge Bob Mitcham told the young woman and two young men who were convicted last month of manslaughter.
Three 18-year-old buddies who were driving around listening to music after a night of bowling were killed when their car breezed through the intersection and was broad sided. The stop sign was found lying on the roadside near the accident.
Turning to the sobbing families of those killed, Mitcham said: "My heart breaks for you." .
Though a pre-sentence recommendation called for up to 50 years in prison, the judge, who is known for his harsh sentences, decided to give the defendants far less.
"I don't believe for one minute that you or the other two defendants pulled these signs up with the intent of causing the death of anyone," he told 20-year-old Christopher Cole.
He then sentenced Cole to 30 years, suspending one-half, and did the same for Nissa Baillie, 21, and Thomas Miller, 20. The three could be eligible for parole after nearly 13 years.
All three cried and repeatedly wiped their eyes-as each stood before the judge in orange jail jumpsuits, their hands cuffed. Their families and friends stood behind them and the families of the victims across the courtroom.
Randall White, Kevin Farr and Brian Hernandez were killed Feb. 7, 1996, the day after the stop sign was pulled up.
Cole testified he and his friends stole as many as 19 signs along the rural roads of Tampa the night before the accident. But he told jurors they didn't touch the stop sign at that intersection.
The defendants told investigators they panicked when they heard about the accident and ditched the signs they collected in a river. _
"There's been many a night that I stayed up and cried... because your sons did not return home," Miller said, his face red and twisted by sobs, as he looked toward the victims' families. Just before the sentencing, the judge refused a new trial request based on a witness' claim a prosecutor forced him to lie.
The mother of one of the dead teens also sided with the defendants, saying she believes investigators manipulated evidence. She joined their families in pleading for leniency:
"From day one, I didn't believe these kids were guilty of this," said Ann Hertle, Randall White's mother.
She described a telephone conversation with Miller, from jail in which he told her: "We had nothing to do with taking down that sign."
“I told him: 'I know, honey. I know you didn’t”’ she said.
One day we're going to see Randall again and I’m going to know. I'm going to know who took that sign down."
But Les Farr, Kevin's father, said of the defendants: "Their only remorse at all is that they got caught and now they're going to be accountable.”
Question:
Thinking about cause and effect. If you were the judge what decision would you make?