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Jury finds Mitchell guilty of child rape
Frederick Lamar Mitchell faces a life sentence at a court appearance in August.
By Derek Simmonsen
staff writer
July 7, 2005
FORT PIERCE --For days, he sat in court next to his wife as the details of his daughter's kidnapping and rape were discussed in minute detail.
He wanted to kill Frederick Lamar Mitchell for what he did to his 9-year-old girl. But after almost two years of waiting, he said, his family was ready to move on after hearing Mitchell was found guilty of all charges on Wednesday.
"It
9;s been a long road, but we've been maintaining," he told reporters outside the courtroom. "I wanted him to get
the chair, but that's not going to happen."
It took the jury of five women and one man about three hours to find Mitchell, 34, of Fort Pierce, guilty of the seven charges against him, which included two counts of sexual battery, two counts of aggravated kidnapping and three counts of burglary.
Mitchell was accused by police of being the serial child rapist who terrorized the community in the fall of 2003 by abducting young girls from their homes and raping them. DNA evidence linked him to two of the victims.
Prosecutors dropped three additional charges against Mitchell on Tuesday after two of the victims said they were afraid to testify. Mitchell is scheduled to be sentenced in August, and the sexual battery charges carry a mandatory life sentence, Assistant State Attorney Kathy Nelson said.
"We're very pleased that he won'
t be
abl
e to hurt any other little girls," Nelson said.
Defense attorney Jeffrey Smith did not give an opening statement and rested early Wednesday without
presenting any witnesses or evidence. Mitchell declined to take the stand in his defense.
"We knew going in it was a difficult case and the state had a lot of evidence," Smith said after the verdict.
Mitchell was willing to take a plea deal and avoid trial, but prosecutors weren't amenable, Smith said.
Nelson disputed the claim, saying Mitchell was not willing to accept her offer: nothing less than life in prison.
An appeal is likely because of the life term Mitchell faces, Smith said.
During his closing argument, Smith accused the prosecution of not providing all of the physical evidence it promised in opening statements and of relying on fallible scientific evidence. He also attacked Mitchell's videotaped interrogation, saying the inaudible answers Mitchell gave did not amount
to a co
nfession
.
"The question isn't whether or not it happened. The question is whether Frederick Mitchell committed these offenses," Smith said.
During her closing argument, Nelson briefly r
ecounted the three crimes of which Mitchell was accused: the September 2003 kidnapping and rape of a 9-year-old girl, the October 2003 kidnapping and rape of a 10-year-old girl and a December 2003 burglary in which he choked a 13-year-old girl before fleeing the home.
DNA evidence linked him to the first two crimes and he was identified by the girl's sister in the burglary, Nelson said.
"It was the same person who was raping both these little girls," Nelson said. "The evidence is overwhelming he committed these crimes."
The father of the 9-year-old victim cradled his daughter in his arms as the verdict came in and said the girl, now 11, has been strong throughout the three days of testimony. He and his wife almost broke down when they
watched thei
r daughter c
ry as she recounted her rape on the stand, but they knew she needed them to be strong.
"She's a very sweet girl," he said. "She's made it through this."
http://www.wpbfne
ws.com/news/4854947/detail.html
Man Gets 7 Life Sentences, Could Be Castrated For Rapes
Girls Snatched From Bedrooms In Fort Pierce
POSTED: 6:27 pm EDT August 15, 2005
FORT PIERCE, Fla. -- A man received seven life sentences Monday for kidnapping two young girls from their Fort Pierce bedrooms and raping them.
Frederick Lamar Mitchell will also undergo an evaluation to determine whether he's a candidate for chemical castration.
A jury convicted the 34-year-old Clewiston man of two counts of sexual battery, two counts of aggravated kidnapping and three counts of burglary. Circuit Judge James McCann gave him the maximum sentence on each count.
<
br>Mitchell was
convicted of the
2003 attacks on two girls, ages 9 and 10.
Police say he's a serial rapist who admitted breaking into at least three other homes and sexually assaulting three other girls.
http://jllandry.com/phpbb2/viewtopic.php?t...e85a8010f300297
Jury finds Mitchell guilty of child rape
Frederick Lamar Mitchell faces a life sentence at a court appearance in August.
By Derek Simmonsen
staff writer
July 7, 2005
FORT PIERCE --For days, he sat in court next to his wife as the details of his daughter's kidnapping and rape were discussed in minute detail.
He wanted to kill Frederick Lamar Mitchell for what he did to his 9-year-old girl. But after almost two years of waiting, he said, his family was ready to move on after hearing Mitchell was found guilty of all charges on Wednesday.
"It
9;s been a long road, but we've been maintaining," he told reporters outside the courtroom. "I wanted him to get
the chair, but that's not going to happen."
It took the jury of five women and one man about three hours to find Mitchell, 34, of Fort Pierce, guilty of the seven charges against him, which included two counts of sexual battery, two counts of aggravated kidnapping and three counts of burglary.
Mitchell was accused by police of being the serial child rapist who terrorized the community in the fall of 2003 by abducting young girls from their homes and raping them. DNA evidence linked him to two of the victims.
Prosecutors dropped three additional charges against Mitchell on Tuesday after two of the victims said they were afraid to testify. Mitchell is scheduled to be sentenced in August, and the sexual battery charges carry a mandatory life sentence, Assistant State Attorney Kathy Nelson said.
"We're very pleased that he won'
t be
abl
e to hurt any other little girls," Nelson said.
Defense attorney Jeffrey Smith did not give an opening statement and rested early Wednesday without
presenting any witnesses or evidence. Mitchell declined to take the stand in his defense.
"We knew going in it was a difficult case and the state had a lot of evidence," Smith said after the verdict.
Mitchell was willing to take a plea deal and avoid trial, but prosecutors weren't amenable, Smith said.
Nelson disputed the claim, saying Mitchell was not willing to accept her offer: nothing less than life in prison.
An appeal is likely because of the life term Mitchell faces, Smith said.
During his closing argument, Smith accused the prosecution of not providing all of the physical evidence it promised in opening statements and of relying on fallible scientific evidence. He also attacked Mitchell's videotaped interrogation, saying the inaudible answers Mitchell gave did not amount
to a co
nfession
.
"The question isn't whether or not it happened. The question is whether Frederick Mitchell committed these offenses," Smith said.
During her closing argument, Nelson briefly r
ecounted the three crimes of which Mitchell was accused: the September 2003 kidnapping and rape of a 9-year-old girl, the October 2003 kidnapping and rape of a 10-year-old girl and a December 2003 burglary in which he choked a 13-year-old girl before fleeing the home.
DNA evidence linked him to the first two crimes and he was identified by the girl's sister in the burglary, Nelson said.
"It was the same person who was raping both these little girls," Nelson said. "The evidence is overwhelming he committed these crimes."
The father of the 9-year-old victim cradled his daughter in his arms as the verdict came in and said the girl, now 11, has been strong throughout the three days of testimony. He and his wife almost broke down when they
watched thei
r daughter c
ry as she recounted her rape on the stand, but they knew she needed them to be strong.
"She's a very sweet girl," he said. "She's made it through this."
http://www.wpbfne
ws.com/news/4854947/detail.html
Man Gets 7 Life Sentences, Could Be Castrated For Rapes
Girls Snatched From Bedrooms In Fort Pierce
POSTED: 6:27 pm EDT August 15, 2005
FORT PIERCE, Fla. -- A man received seven life sentences Monday for kidnapping two young girls from their Fort Pierce bedrooms and raping them.
Frederick Lamar Mitchell will also undergo an evaluation to determine whether he's a candidate for chemical castration.
A jury convicted the 34-year-old Clewiston man of two counts of sexual battery, two counts of aggravated kidnapping and three counts of burglary. Circuit Judge James McCann gave him the maximum sentence on each count.
<
br>Mitchell was
convicted of the
2003 attacks on two girls, ages 9 and 10.
Police say he's a serial rapist who admitted breaking into at least three other homes and sexually assaulting three other girls.