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Thread: Jamie Beltran Gets 40 Years in 2009 DE Slaying of Wanda Carr

  1. #1
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    Jamie Beltran Gets 40 Years in 2009 DE Slaying of Wanda Carr




    September 5, 2010

    Delaware courts: Attorney claims bias in death sentences

    Lawyer: In all cases victim is white female

    An attorney for a man facing trial and a possible death sentence alleges that Delaware prosecutors seek the death penalty only in cases where a white woman is the victim.

    Attorney Patrick J. Collins claims that Delaware prosecution of death-penalty cases is therefore unconstitutional and the death penalty should be barred in the case of his client, Jamie Beltran, who is accused of killing Wanda Carr, a white woman, during a 2009 home invasion. Beltran's trial is scheduled to begin Wednesday.

    In court papers, Collins charges that in 29 first-degree murder cases since 2006, involving 45 defendants, the only one where the death penalty was pursued through to trial by state prosecutors involved a white female victim.

    And of three past cases and two pending cases in New Castle County Superior Court -- where the victim was a white woman -- prosecutors are actively seeking the death penalty in three of them -- or in 60 percent of such cases.

    "When the victim is a black male, the state proceeds as a capital case zero percent of the time [in 19 cases]," wrote Collins. "In fact when the victim is anyone other than a white female, the capital trial rate is zero."

    In a response to Collins filed Friday, prosecutors denied the allegations "in the strongest terms permissible."

    Deputy Attorney General Ipek K. Medford wrote that Collins' analysis was both flawed, unfocused and "at best, misguided and unfair."

    She also charged that the motion is premature because Beltran has not been found guilty and has not been exposed to or sentenced to the death penalty.

    Beltran, 20, along with Christian Cortes, 19, is accused of killing 57-year-old Carr during an Aug. 3, 2009, home invasion, where the pair were allegedly looking to steal an AK-47 they believed was hidden in Carr's South Jackson Street home.

    Cortes is being tried separately in November.

    Judge Calvin L. Scott Jr. is considering the merits of Collins' argument.

    "Simply stated, it is an inescapable fact that for the past two years, if not longer, the state has based its decisions as to whether to seek the death penalty on a constitutionally impermissible criterion: the race and gender of the victim," Collins wrote in his motion.

    Collins also cites a draft of a Cornell University Law School study that determined, as of 2008, that 70 percent of all death sentences imposed in Delaware involve cases where the victim is white, though the majority of murder victims in the state are black.

    Prosecutors responded that Collins' analysis mixed cases that were not eligible for the death penalty along with cases that were eligible, making his conclusions "completely unscientific and unreliable."

    Medford also dismisses the Cornell study as irrelevant to the issue of how prosecutors choose to seek the death penalty because the study itself only looks at outcomes, not how prosecutors choose which cases are tried as capital.

    "Beltran committed a crime for which the United States Constitution and the Delaware law permit imposition of the death penalty," Medford wrote. "If he is convicted, Beltran will have been found guilty of burglarizing the home of a wholly innocent victim at night, and for intentionally or recklessly murdering her in cold blood during the commission of the crime."

    It is not known whether Scott will rule before jury selection in Beltran's case begins on Wednesday or reserve ruling on the motion until after the trial.

    http://www.delawareonline.com/article/20100905/NEWS01/9050358/1006/NEWS

  2. #2
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    September 16, 2010

    Delaware courts: After comment, capital murder trial jury let go

    After a week of working to select a jury to hear evidence against a man accused of killing a 57-year-old woman in a 2009 home invasion, attorneys and the judge will be going back to square one Monday.

    More than halfway through the selection process in the capital case against Jamie Beltran, a prospective juror on Wednesday reported that a man he believed to be a police officer, told him "Trust me, he's guilty," as they waited in a courtroom for the process to begin last week. The officer then discussed facts related to the case, officials said.

    There was indeed a New Castle County Police officer in the jury pool, who fit the prospective juror's description, prompting defense attorney Patrick J. Collins to request that the nine jurors who had been selected to serve, and all remaining members of the jury pool, be dismissed as possibly tainted.

    While it appeared that the police officer's conversation was with a single juror, Collins said others may have overheard the discussion and formed an opinion.

    Deputy Attorney General Steven P. Wood said he did not believe the law required any juror except the one in the conversation to be dismissed, but agreed with Collins that at such an early stage in the process, starting with a fresh crop of jurors would be the safest option.

    Collins and Wood said the extra precaution was needed because if convicted, Beltran faces a possible death sentence.

    "And death is different," said Collins, adding he would not have pressed the issue if the case involved a lesser crime.

    Superior Court Judge Calvin L. Scott Jr. granted the motion and the long selection process is set to re-start Monday, pushing the start of opening statements back by at least a week.

    Wood told Scott losing a week's worth of work now might save years of appeals in the long run.

    The judge and the attorneys had been working for five full days, screened hundreds of jurors and seated nine out of 16 when this issue arose.

    Beltran, 20, along with Christian Cortes, 19, is accused of killing Wanda Carr during an Aug. 3, 2009, home invasion, in which the pair allegedly were looking to steal an AK-47 rifle they believed was hidden in Carr's South Jackson Street home.

    Cortes is being tried separately and also faces a possible death sentence if convicted.

    http://www.delawareonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=20109160349

  3. #3
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    October 10, 2010

    Trial begins in murder during home invasion

    State prosecutors charge that Jamie “Little Jimmy” Beltran murdered the mother of a childhood friend during an August 2009 home invasion because of his lust for an AK-47 rifle.

    Deputy Attorney General Ipek Medford told a jury in opening statements today that 57-year-old Wanda Carr woke up that night to discover the burglar or burglars seeking the assault-style weapon and was “executed in her living room.”

    Medford said Beltran, 20, of Wilmington, was not only seen holding the gun that likely killed Carr hours before the slaying, he also left a fingerprint at the scene and trail of text messages that implicate him.

    And in a recorded phone call with a girlfriend -- which Medford played for the jury -- Beltran said, “I did it.”

    If convicted, Beltran faces a possible death sentence.

    Beltran’s attorney, Patrick J. Collins, told the jury that the state did not present the full story in its opening argument and reminded them that prosecutors have a high burden to overcome. Maybe, likely or even probably, is not good enough, he said. The proof has to be beyond a reasonable doubt.

    Collins also has challenged the state’s plan to seek the death penalty as unconstitutional, claiming in a motion that Delaware prosecutors only seek capital punishment when a white woman is the victim.

    Superior Court Judge Calvin L. Scott Jr. has not yet ruled on the motion.

    Medford told the jury that Beltran had known the Carr family since he was at least 10, and had even slept over at their Jackson Street home.

    While he’d drifted apart from Carr’s son, Michael, in later years, he hung out with him in summer 2009, discovered Michael Carr had an AK-47 and wanted it because he believed he could trade it on the street for up to three handguns.

    Medford said Michael Carr claims it was actually a paintball gun that looked like an AK-47, but she said that doesn’t matter because Beltran thought it was real.

    Medford also said Beltran held the rifle in late July 2009 when he was helping Michael Carr move some things in his room and asked Michael Carr if he could buy it.

    When Michael Carr wouldn’t sell, Medford said Beltran set about stealing it by having Christian Cortes -- his cousin and co-defendant -- distract and stall Michael Carr late on Aug. 2, 2009, while he broke into Carr’s home.

    A text message from Cortes to Beltran that night reads, “Yo he’s with me … go in.”

    Medford said Wanda Carr was sleeping on a couch in the living room when she apparently awoke during the theft.

    She was found dead just after midnight in the front hall of the home from three gunshot wounds -- two to the head and one to a hand which was clutching a shattered cordless phone. Two of the three shots were fired at point-blank range, Medford said.

    In an interview with police days later, Beltran at first denied any involvement then blamed Cortes and another man.

    In a second interview, Beltran continued to blame Cortes but also offered details that made clear he was in the house and at the very least saw what happened. He told police that Carr told them to take whatever they wanted but that she was “getting too loud.”

    Neither the murder weapon nor the alleged AK-47 were found.

    Cortes, 19, is set to face trial on the exact same charges -- first-degree murder, burglary, robbery and conspiracy -- in the coming months.

    http://www.delawareonline.com/apps/p...=2010101013032

  4. #4
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    Jury undecided on murder charge

    A jury failed to reach agreement Sunday on a murder charge against a man accused of killing his friend's mother to get an assault rifle but convicted him on several lesser charges.

    Jamie "Little Jimmy" Beltran, 20, of Wilmington, was found guilty of first-degree robbery, first-degree burglary and second-degree conspiracy, prosecutor Steve Wood said. The jury couldn't agree on a firearm charge, but Superior Court Judge Calvin L. Scott Jr. ruled Beltran guilty of being a person prohibited from carrying a weapon.

    Beltran was accused of killing 57-year-old Wanda Carr on Aug. 2, 2009, during a home invasion. Carr was shot three times, once in the hand and twice in the head.

    The jury, which was sequestered and had been deliberating for several days, could not reach a verdict on the murder charge, which could carry a death penalty. Defense Attorney Patrick J. Collins said the jury also could not reach a verdict on Scott's suggestion to consider a second-degree murder conviction.

    "I guess what I'd like to say is that we appreciate all the hard work that the jurors put into their deliberations," Collins said. "Beyond that, I can't comment. The state has to decide what they are going to do," he said.

    Prosecutors have 10 days to decide whether to retry Beltran on the unresolved charges.

    "We expect to make a decision after appropriate reflection," Wood said. "We respect the jury's hard work but we are disappointed that Wanda Carr's family hasn't found the closure they deserve," Wood said.

    Wood said the prosecution was satisfied with the evidence presented against Beltran.

    In previous reports, Deputy Attorney General Ipek Medford said Beltran was seen holding the gun that likely killed Carr hours before her slaying and that he left a fingerprint at the scene of the crime and text messages to a companion that implicated him.

    Medford also played a phone conversation with Beltran's girlfriend in which he said, "I did it."

    Collins maintained the state did not present a full story in its opening argument and reminded the jury that proof had to be beyond a reasonable doubt to convict Beltran. Collins also challenged the state's plan to seek the death penalty against Beltran, saying it was unconstitutional because Delaware prosecutors seek capital punishment only when white women are victims.

    http://www.delawareonline.com/articl...EWS01/11080327

  5. #5
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    Delaware courts: Man set for slaying retrial takes plea

    Jamie Beltran, who was facing a retrial this week on first-degree murder charges in the slaying of a friend's mother during a 2009 home invasion, instead agreed Wednesday to admit to second-degree murder and second-degree burglary charges.

    If he had been convicted at a retrial, Beltran faced a possible death sentence.

    He now faces a minimum mandatory 16 years in prison and up to life behind bars when he is sentenced later this year by Superior Court Judge Calvin L. Scott Jr.

    Prosecutors charge that Beltran, 20, along with Christian Cortes, 19, broke into the home of a childhood friend in Wilmington on Aug. 2, 2009, believing the friend had an AK-47 assault rifle hidden in his room.

    At an October trial, prosecutors said the pair hoped to sell the gun or trade it on the street for up to three handguns.

    During the robbery -- when the friend was lured away from the home -- 57-year-old Wanda Carr awoke and was "executed in her living room," Deputy Attorney General Ipek Medford told the jury.

    Prosecutors also played a recording of a phone call that Beltran made in prison telling a girlfriend, "I did it."

    The jury could not reach agreement on the murder charge, though the panel did convict Beltran, also known as "Little Jimmy," of first-degree robbery, first-degree burglary and second-degree conspiracy.

    Prosecutors are now dropping all those convictions in exchange for Beltran's guilty pleas.

    There was no agreement in the deal on what prosecutors might ask for at sentencing, meaning they are free to seek a term of life in prison.

    Medford and Beltran's attorney, Patrick Collins, declined comment Wednesday.

    Cortes, who is Beltran's cousin, is scheduled to go to trial in May and could face the death sentence if convicted.

    http://www.delawareonline.com/articl...ial-takes-plea

  6. #6
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    Related Case

    Delaware courts: Man pleads to break-in homicide

    WILMINGTON -- The second of two men charged in a 2009 home invasion that ended in the slaying of a Wilmington woman admitted guilt this week in New Castle County Superior Court.

    Christian Cortes, 20, pleaded guilty to the manslaughter of 57-year-old Wanda Carr, second-degree burglary and possession of a deadly weapon by a person prohibited.

    Cortes had been set to go to trial in August on first-degree murder charges.

    He now faces a minimum of six years in prison and up to 41 years behind bars when Superior Court Judge Calvin L. Scott Jr. sentences him later this year.

    Cortes' cousin and co-defendant Jamie Beltran admitted to second-degree murder and second-degree burglary in February on the eve of a retrial. The first jury to hear the case against Beltran, in October, could not reach agreement on the homicide charge. However, the panel did convict Beltran of burglary, robbery and conspiracy.

    Beltran, who is expected to be sentenced at the same time as Cortes, faces a minimum sentence of 16 years and up to life behind bars.

    At the October trial, prosecutors said Beltran and Cortes believed that a childhood friend of Beltran's had acquired an AK-47 assault rifle and the pair wanted it for themselves, possibly to trade it for up to three handguns on the street.

    The two then conspired to lure the friend -- Wanda Carr's son -- away from his South Jackson Street home on Aug. 2, 2009, so they could break in and steal it.

    It was unclear, at trial, if the friend ever had an AK-47, with some testimony indicating that it may have been a paintball gun designed to look like the assault weapon.

    At the time of the break-in, Wanda Carr was sleeping on a couch on the first floor of the residence, and according to prosecutors, she apparently woke up to discover the intruders, who then shot her. Beltran accused Cortes of firing the fatal shot and Cortes told others that Beltran was the shooter.

    Cortes' attorney Andrew Witherell and prosecutor Steven Wood declined to comment until sentencing.

    Source

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    He was sentenced to 40 years in prison.

    https://law.justia.com/cases/delawar...908004561.html

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