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Date Posted: 22:41:26 09/05/02 Thu
Author: PW
Subject: Fla. Brothers Murder Case Wraps Up
In reply to: PW 's message, "Norway cracks down, 160 arrested" on 10:44:19 09/04/02 Wed

For the complete story, copy & paste this url to your address box. Excerpts of the report appear below.

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20020905/ap_on_re_us/father_killed_13

Fla. Brothers Murder Case Wraps Up
Thu Sep 5, 7:37 PM ET
By BILL KACZOR, Associated Press Writer
PENSACOLA, Fla. (AP) - A prosecutor urged jurors Thursday to put aside any sympathy for 13- and 14-year-old brothers when deciding whether they beat their father to death. In an unusual twist, it is the second trial in the same killing. Convicted child molester Ricky Chavis was also tried under a completely different theory of the crime — that he wielded the bat that killed Terry King. The verdict reached last week in his trial was sealed until the King brothers' trial ends. .."You don't like Chavis?" Rimmer said. "Nobody likes Chavis. Chavis is the kind of guy everybody wants to hate. What's lower than a child molester?" The brothers confessed to police a day after the murder, but now say Chavis is the real killer. Rimmer argued the boys were telling the truth when they admitted the killing to sheriff's investigators. He said their confessions are filled with the kind of detail only someone who was there would have known. Everyone in this courtroom can repeat those details," said James Stokes, Alex's lawyer. "The boys' stories line up because the boys' stories are rehearsed." The boys changed their stories more than four months after the murder, telling a grand jury that Chavis killed their father while they hid in the trunk of Chavis' car. The grand jury then indicted Chavis, 40.
Earlier Thursday, Derek King took the witness stand only to tell Circuit Judge Frank Bell he would not testify in his own defense. "Yes sir, it was my decision," he said in a clear, strong voice. His soft-spoken brother testified Wednesday that the brothers took the blame because they wanted to live with Chavis and he had told them they would be exonerated by claiming self-defense because they are juveniles. Both boys testified against Chavis last week.
Sharon Potter, one of Derek King's lawyers, said in her closing that the boys had no motive to kill their father but Chavis did. She said Chavis wanted to keep Terry King from finding out he was having sex with Alex. He also pointed to Alex's affection for Chavis, reading from several love letters he had written including one that ended "Before I met Rick I was straight but now I am gay." "You don't like Chavis?" Rimmer said. "Nobody likes Chavis. Chavis is the kind of guy everybody wants to hate. What's lower than a child molester?"
.
The brothers confessed to police a day after the murder, but now say Chavis is the real killer. Rimmer argued the boys were telling the truth when they admitted the killing to sheriff's investigators. He said their confessions are filled with the kind of detail only someone who was there would have known. The boys changed their stories more than four months after the murder, telling a grand jury that Chavis killed their father while they hid in the trunk of Chavis' car. The grand jury then indicted Chavis, 40. But Rimmer argued that Derek swung the aluminum bat while Alex urged him to commit the killing, just as the brothers had originally confessed. All three defendants are facing a mandatory penalty of life in prison without parole if convicted of first-degree murder.
Hiis soft-spoken brother testified Wednesday that the brothers took the blame because they wanted to live with Chavis and he had told them they would be exonerated by claiming self-defense because they are juveniles. Both boys testified against Chavis last week. Sharon Potter, one of Derek King's lawyers, said in her closing that the boys had no motive to kill their father but Chavis did. She said Chavis wanted to keep Terry King from finding out he was having sex with Alex. Rimmer argued the boys' motive was to escape a controlling father and live with Chavis. He let them play video games, stay up late watching television and smoke marijuana when they went to his house after running away from home 10 days before the killing, Rimmer said. He also pointed to Alex's affection for Chavis, reading from several love letters he had written including one that ended "Before I met Rick I was straight but now I am gay."

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