Harrison County jury to deliberate on death penalty for Rahim Ambrose
GULFPORT -- A Harrison County jury will deliberate on the death penalty Friday morning after finding Rahim Ambrose guilty in the capital murder of Robert Trosclair Jr.
Jurors convicted Ambrose, 30, after deliberating less than three hours Thursday.
Circuit Judge Roger Clark sent the sequestered jury back to a hotel with bailiffs after a sentencing hearing ended late Thursday afternoon.
Trosclair, 31, lived in Pass Christian with his mother.
Three eyewitnesses and Ambrose have testified the series of beatings took place April 7, 2013, on Lobouy and Firetower roads in the DeLisle community.
One witness said Ambrose and two other men dumped Trosclair, unconscious and unrecognizable, on the side of Cunningham Road. A motorist found him hog-tied with a tow strap just before dusk. Medical witnesses said Trosclair was already brain-dead.
In closing arguments Thursday morning, Assistant District Attorney Crosby Parker described it as "a two-hour beat-down at two locations."
That and the element of kidnapping made Ambrose guilty of a capital murder, District Attorney Joel Smith said.
Ambrose testified he punched and kicked Trosclair, but denied smashing his head with a car tire on its rim and denied having ever seen a garden-hose reel one of his accomplices used to strike Trosclair on the head.
Ambrose and the other men took turns assaulting Trosclair, who never fought back, according to testimony.
A medical examiner's testimony revealed Trosclair suffered a 4-mm midline shift in his head, among many other injuries. Trosclair had three causes of death: Blunt-force trauma to the head, stab wounds to his side and asphyxiation by strangulation.
Defense attorney Charles Stewart, in closing arguments, urged the jury to consider the lesser charges of manslaughter or second-degree murder. He said the killing was unintentional, not premeditated and could be considered a heat-of-passion killing.
Ambrose claimed Trosclair had stolen drugs and stereo equipment from his vehicle.
"Rahim was mad and wanted his stuff," Stewart said.
Smith said there was no evidence Trosclair had stolen from Ambrose, or of who stabbed or choked him.
But, he said, "it's crystal clear" that Ambrose was part of the beatings and the kidnapping. Smith said Ambrose held Trosclair against his will after Trosclair "ran for his life down a dead-end, dirt road to the main road wearing only his shorts and socks."
When the state seeks the death penalty, a guilty verdict is followed by a sentencing hearing.
Defense attorney Glenn Rishel told jurors Ambrose's life has value and meaning. He asked jurors to spare his life.
Eight friends and relatives testified Ambrose is a loving father who provided for his children and always had a job. They said the actions described in court were out of character for him.
Several wept as they testified.
"Lord, Jesus," Mike Henry moaned as he put his head in his hands.
"He's like a son to me," Henry said. "I've never known him to be a violent person."
Outside the courtroom, Vena Trosclair said she still misses her son. She said he was loving, considerate and enjoyed fishing and crabbing. She said he called her every couple of hours each day.
"That's how I knew something was wrong when he went missing," she said.
http://www.sunherald.com/2015/06/18/...case.html?rh=1
Bookmarks