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Thread: Victor Antonio Caraballo - Florida

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    Victor Antonio Caraballo - Florida



    Summary of Offense:

    A man convicted of abducting a teenage couple at gunpoint, raping and killing one and leaving the other for dead, was sentenced Thursday. Victor Caraballo will be put to death for the April 27, 2002 murder of Ana Maria Angel. He was convicted of raping and killing her in April. Caraballo and four other men were charged with first-degree murder, attempted first-degree murder, armed sexual battery by multiple perpetrators, and two counts each of armed kidnapping and armed robbery. Nelson Portobanco and Angel were both 18-year-old high school seniors at the time. They were walking back to their car on South Beach after a date when, Portobanco said, the men jumped the couple and pushed them into a pickup truck. Portobanco said they then drove north and gang-raped Angel while he was ordered to keep his head down. It is believed the couple were the victims of a random attack. Police said Angel was driven farther north and shot to death. Her body was found near Interstate 95 in Palm Beach County. Caraballo was the first of five Orlando-area men to stand trial in connection with Angel's abduction, rape and death. Caraballo was sentenced to death on the murder charge. He received four life sentences and two 30-year prison sentences for the remaining charges.

    Caraballo was sentenced to death on June 7, 2007.

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    Administrator Heidi's Avatar
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    The Florida Supreme Court tossed Caraballo's death sentence in today's orders/opinions.

    http://www.floridasupremecourt.org/d...sc07-1375.pdfo

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    Death sentence overturned in brutal South Beach rape and murder

    The Florida Supreme Court on Thursday overturned the death sentence for a man convicted for the rape and murder of Ana Maria Angel, who was kidnapped along with her boyfriend during a stroll on South Beach in 2002.

    Victor Caraballo, 42, was 1 of 5 men accused in the brutal attack on Angel, 18, and her boyfriend, Nelson Portobanco, in April 2002.

    The couple, high-school sweethearts, were snatched from a Miami Beach street corner after they had taken a midnight stroll on the beach.

    Caraballo and the other 4 men drove the couple north on Interstate 95, taking turns raping Angel while Portobanco crouched on the floor of the truck.

    The men slit Portobanco's throat and left him for dead by the side of the highway in Broward County. He survived and alerted police.

    After a massive search, Angel's body was discovered on a roadside in Palm Beach County with a gunshot to the back of the head. Her hands were clasped in prayer.

    Caraballo was not the triggerman but participated in the attacks. Jurors convicted him in April 2007 on a slew of charges, including first-degree murder, kidnapping and sexual battery.

    Claiming he was mentally ill, Caraballo at the time of his conviction asked for the death penalty and jurors recommended it by a vote of 9-3.

    The Supreme Court, in Thursday's opinion, said the trial judge was wrong in allowing the testimony of Dr. Lazaro Garcia, a mental health expert, during the penalty portion of the trial after his conviction.

    Months before the conviction, Garcia had evaluated Caraballo to determine if he was mentally competent to proceed to trial.

    But the Supreme Court ruled that Garcia shouldn't have been allowed to testify in the penalty phase because his conversations with Caraballo were confidential and only to be used in determining if the defendant was competent for trial.

    Justices upheld the conviction itself, but ordered the trial court hold new sentencing proceedings for Caraballo.

    2 more men arrested for the brutal attacks have been convicted, while two others are awaiting trial.

    (Source: The Miami Herald)

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    Administrator Heidi's Avatar
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    Factors Contributing to the Delay in Imposition of Sentence:

    It took almost five years for Caraballo’s case to go to trial.

    Caraballo’s direct appeal was pending for almost three years in the Florida Supreme Court as several motions to extend time were granted.

    Case Information:

    On 07/20/07, Caraballo filed a Direct Appeal in the Florida Supreme Court. On direct appeal, Caraballo raised nine issues: (1) whether the entry into the apartment where Caraballo was found violated his Fourth and Fourteenth Amendment rights, rendering the fruits of the entry, search, and seizure inadmissible; (2) whether the interrogation of Caraballo violated his Miranda rights; (3) whether certain prosecutorial comments were improper; (4) whether the State’s victim-impact testimony deprived Caraballo of due process; (5) whether the trial court erred in permitting penalty phase testimony from an expert appointed to evaluate Caraballo’s competence to proceed; (6) whether Florida law prevented Caraballo from establishing mental retardation; (7) whether Caraballo’s death sentence violates Ring v. Arizona, 536 U.S. 584 (2002); (8) whether the cumulative effect of errors committed at trial deprived Caraballo of a fair trial; and (9) whether Caraballo’s death sentence is proportional. On 06/24/10, the FSC affirmed Caraballo’s convictions and affirmed Caraballo’s sentences for the attempted murder, kidnapping, robbery, and sexual battery. The FSC, however, vacated Caraballo’s sentence of death for the murder of Angel and remanded the case to the trial court for further proceedings regarding claim (5) of the direct appeal.

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